No One But Us
by TheRealityBreaker
Summary: The World Eater is defeated, though the Dragonborn will have to stand up against other oppressions that Skyrim holds. Will she be able to find allies in the darkest times? F!Dragonborn. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note**_ : _This is my first attempt to write a fan fiction. I really liked this game so I thought it would be fair to write a fan fiction based on it. So...yeah :3  
The story will include **femslash**_ _so whoever doesn't want it, please leave this page now.  
_ _ **  
Rated:**_ _T until later chapters._  
 _ **  
Disclaimer:**_ _All rights and characters are owned by Bethesda. and I do not claim any ownership over them. Except for Kelria, she belongs to me :p  
_ _ **  
P.S.:**_ _Thanks to my friends Davide for encouraging slaps and help, and Fredrik for the support.  
_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Kelria rubbed her forehead as she carefully listened to Tolan and Isran, the current leader of Dawnguard. They were standing in the center of a well-lit round hall in Fort Dawnguard, the harbor of vampire hunters, which was quite isolated from the rest of Skyrim, to the far southeast.

The vampire hunters had been recently reorganized by Isran and were now going deep into the Skyrim lands, searching for suddenly emerged vampires and their hideouts.

Kelria had accidentally listened to the conversation between Riften guards about new vampire attacks, that had happened not far from the Hold, and the Dawnguard recruitment. She needed to make some money, but had refused Jarl Balgruuf's rewards, referring to the fact that she didn't want anything, including fame, just because of slaying Alduin, the World Eater.

She had thought that the Dragonborn's mission would end on that, but the constant war between the Stormcloacks and the Empire had never let her rest and live a peaceful life. She didn't want to side with anyone, yet both sides had attempted to recruit her. Both Ulfric Stormcloak and General Tullius thought that they might win the war if they used a 'powerful ally', the Dragonborn. Oh Divines, how she hated that title.

"...I need someone out in the field, taking the fight to the damn vampires, while we're getting the fort back into shape..." Kelria's thoughts were suddenly cut off by Isran's low and husky voice.

He turned to Tolan, who was also keeping quiet and listening

"Tolan, tell the young lady about Dimhollow Crypt. Got anything on that?"

" Brother Adalvald was sure it held some long-lost vampire artifact of some kind. He was at the Hall when it was attacked..." Tolan said as he shrugged.

"Good enough for me. Go see what the vampires were looking for in this Dimhollow Crypt. With any luck, they'll still be there." Isran motioned his head to the exit door.

"I'll meet you there then" Tolan nodded to both Isran and Kelria and walked off with a confident gait.

The Dawnguard leader turned around and walked to the nearby crates, that were lying around against the wall , before grabbing a single crossbow with bolts. "This thing is quite effective against the vampires, you know. Perhaps you'll find it useful." he turned to face Kelria with the crossbow in his hand and gave her a questioning look, awaiting the response.

"I prefer to use my sword, actually, but thank you." Kelria pointed at her sheathed enchanted sword, hanging on her belt, which she loved like her own child.

Isran gave a sigh and put the crossbow down on the crates.

"Just keep in mind, I warned you. But you can get a crossbow within the Fort whenever, should you ever change your mind."

He walked back towards Kelria and put his hands on his sides.

"Now. It's Kelria, right? Kelria, I don't know what made you enter our Order. Searching for adventures or fond of risking your own life?" the older man looked at her gravely and curiously.

"Actually, both, but a little more money would help as well. And I thought that it would benefit not only me, but other people as well. Innocents die because of the vampires. Perhaps it's time we end it." Kelria answered with all seriousness, confidence sounded in her voice.

Isran gave her a low chuckle. "Unless your head gets bitten off by one of the bloodsuckers. I'm surprised at your firm intentions. But remember my warning: they are terrible creatures, nightmares. Kill as many of them as possible. But don't be stupid enough to throw yourself into a vampire crowd. Use your mind and spare no one's life." With every word Isran was slowly leaning in towards Kelria, as if trying to intimidate her. "They have none anyway."

Kelria held his gaze and gave a single nod. After a few moments, Isran pulled back and clasped his hands behind his back "Now go to Dimhollow Crypt and find out what's going on with that artifact." he paused for a moment. "Try not to die out there."

* * *

The cave was as dark as a night. It took Kelria several minutes for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There was no sound apart from the one of the whistling wind outside. But the deeper Kelria was going into the cave, the quieter it got. In a few moments the sound of the wind was replaced by a distant gurgling of water..

Finally, she walked out into the space surrounded by the cave walls and full of some kind of ruins that rose above the floor. The only source of light was coming through the hole in the roof, but it was so small that it didn't light even a half of the cave, though the water of the stream gave out a perfect gleam.

Kelria ducked down behind a stone as she heard some voices coming from the center of the opening. She couldn't make out any word but it was clear that there was only two people.

' _Not people..._ ' she corrected her thought as she saw red glowing eyes of the creatures.

Kelria knew she couldn't hide forever because it wouldn't be any help if the two vampires found out about her presence first. She stood up and walked towards them drawing her sword with a clinking sound which echoed loudly through the cave.

"Hey monsters, having a good day?" Kelria smirked as the two vampires charged at her, growling. She held up her sword and refusing to take any time she ran forward and made two slashes, one at each vampire's throat, before they could cast a spell.

Kelria watched as the two bodies flopped on the floor and, satisfied with the result, she continued the journey.

* * *

The place was enormous. Kelria was taking in every detail, though the darkness couldn't let her see past the huge circular platform with stones around it. The whole platform was surrounded by water and had the only small bridge that connected it to the mainland.

Kelria spotted a few vampires so she crouched beside a nearby gargoyle, watching closely. She heard two of them exchanging a conversation, but the next thing she saw was one of them pounce on the other and drain his blood.

Now she was regretting the decision of not taking the crossbow as it was a perfect spot to shoot from.. 'Let's make it the old-fashioned way' Kelria thought before slowly coming down the stairs with her sword ready.

It seemed like there were only two vampires in this huge place, which gave Kelria some sort of relief. They were quite stupid to rush towards her as in a few seconds they dropped dead by her sword. She looked at them in disgust and moved to the human lying dead nearby, the one who got murdered by one of the vampires. She knelt down beside him and retrieved a journal from his coat. Kelria opened it, finding a name of the owner.. "Adalvald. What an idiot" she murmured and looked through the journal, which had the information about the crypt.

It was nothing that could help her so she put the journal down and walked towards the platform and the pedestal in the center. The plinth had a button on it and seeing that it was the only clue Kelria had, she pressed it.

A sudden pain pierced her palm eliciting a loud groan from Kelria's throat. Some sort of damn spike had penetrated her hand. Kelria withdrew it, trying to hold back her tears from the terrible pain. She looked down at her bleeding shaking hand and used magic, or what little she knew of it as a Nord, to heal the wound. When she was done Kelria stood upright, calming herself and looked around at braziers that stood in circle on the platform.

Kelria started to move them back and forth as a purple glow appeared, trailing. She figured out the puzzle and moved each one of the braziers until the whole circle was lit up in purple. A few moments after, she heard some rattling sound echoing around the cavern and the pedestal slowly came up in full sight.

She unsheathed her sword and stood in a defense position as she saw the side of the pedestal slid down and a woman fell out of it, landing on her hands and knees. Kelria noticed some scroll on the woman's back, which lit up curiosity in her. She didn't see any weapons the stranger had and slowly pointed her sword down.

The raven-haired woman suddenly shot a glare at Kelria and without any hesitaition leapt forward. Kelria didn't have time to react as the stranger's speed was unbelievable. Wind was knocked out of her lungs after she landed on her back, moaning in pain. The woman pinned her down with force, gripping tightly her arms. Kelria tried to knock her off, but the woman's weight made her attempts futile.

The brunette's eyes that had orange and yellow tint were showing anger and hunger and she leaned her head down to Kelria's before gritting her teath and growling, threat sounding in her voice "Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kelria narrowed her eyes at the older woman, mentally cursing herself for being so incautious. "Is that how you thank the one who has just let you out?"

For a moment, she could see a tint of doubt and confusion in the stranger's eyes. Those eyes... There was something unusual in them. She could swear she had never seen such breathtaking and expressive eyes in her lifetime. They looked like a smooth sea while the sunset was shining upon it. Kelria took a moment to slide her gaze down to take in a perfect face proportion but the sudden intake of breath, coming from the woman, broke her from her reverie.

"I...I'm sorry..." she loosened the grip on Kelria's arms before carefully standing up and walking a few steps away. Kelria stood up, grabbing her sword that had fallen from her hand after she was knocked off her feet but held it by her side.

"So you are that mysterious artifact that everyone was after" Kelria spoke quietly, leaving the statement hanging in the air, though not letting her guard down.

"Everyone? What do you mean? Who sent you?" the woman's voice sounded like a velvet, yet full of worry.

"Those...vampires, they have been coming here like something was drawing them in. I suppose they were trying to find out how this mechanism works." she looked around the place, that still held the mystery. No one knew who had built this vault, the only thing Kelria could guess was that the place was not created in the Fourth Era, it seemed far older.

She looked back at the woman "Isran sent me to find out what's happening here."

"I...I don't know who that is but I guess I should be grateful that you freed me. Thank you. My name is Serana, by the way" She walked closer towards Kelria as a distant light of the torch on the far wall reflected on her face, showing her skin in full sight. Pale skin... As white as...

Kelria gripped her sword's hilt tighter "You're... one of them" the thought of how dangerous the woman could be stroke her as she realized how this vampire had been so strong earlier to pin her down easily.

Serana stopped abruptly, carefully looking into Kelria's eyes. "Yes. I am a vampire. But my blood belongs to another kin. Not these mindless creatures. I, just like my family, originate from the Volkihar Clan. You have nothing to fear from me. Well...apart from my father." she looked away trying not to let her thoughts get to her right now.

Kelria listened closely. Something in the back of her mind told her that she shouldn't trust Serana, that she should just end her like Isran had told her to. She squeezed her hilt harder so that her knuckles turned white. Turmoil was coursing through Kelria, uncertainty placed its seed inside of her. After a few moments she gave in and loosened her grip, mentally noting to herself that she would probably regret this decision in the future.

"How long have you been in there?" she asked her guardedly.

Serana turned her head at Kelria again and furrowed her eyebrows, thinking. "I don't quite remember... What year is it now?"

"203 of the Fourth Era" Kelria responded after a moment.

"Divines..." a shock was clearly shown on Serana's face. She looked at Kelria with some kind of hopelessness in her eyes. "It's been...Over four thousand years..." She ran her hand through her dark hair and sighed frustrated.

Kelria frowned "Wait, you happen to be four thousand years old?!" The fact was unbelievable. An ancient relic literally stood right in front of her, though the woman didn't seem any older than twenty three or so.

Serana ignored the question and asked slowly. "Is the High King still alive?".

She sighed after receiving a headshake from Kelria. She started to pace around slowly and thoughtfully. A few seconds after she stopped and inhaled the air.

"It'll be good to get outside and breathe again. I haven't missed the sunlight, but I do miss fresh air." Serana said calmly receiving a questioning look from Kelria at the sudden change of topic.

"Well, I expect you do know a way out. Because on my part, I don't fancy going through the cobwebs again."

"Sadly no. Nor do I know this very place."

Kelria brushed past Serana, rolling her eyes "Right... Memory serves you quite well."

Serana gritted her teeth at the witty remark and pretended she didn't hear it. Something told her they wouldn't part ways anytime soon. ' _I can feel this child is special_ ' And with that thought she silently followed after Kelria.

* * *

"You still haven't told me where your home is and where we're going to go." Kelria wiped the slick liquid of the damn spiders' blood, or whatever their intestines were made of, off her sword with a rugged cloth and then threw it down on the snow near the cave entrance.

It had taken them almost an hour to find the exit after meeting several draugrs, that were roaring around, and finishing them off. Kelria was glad to finally get out of the cavern as something was always tugging at her there, the uneasiness crawling up inside. Now that they both were out in the open, she was enjoying the feeling of fresh air on her face and a little breeze blowing through her fair hair.

"And you still haven't told me your name" noted Serana as she pulled up her hood, shielding her eyes and skin from the shining afternoon sun.

"It wouldn't matter anyway, now would it." Kelria's voice sounded gravely. She sheathed the sword and walked up to her lonely standing horse, that was tied to a small post. She untied the reins and patted the horse's neck.

"I need to know my savior's name." Serana watched Kelria closely as she folded her arms in front of her.

Kelria snorted at the words and turns to look at the vampire. "It's Kelria. Happy now?"

Serana gave a small smile, pleased. "I am, thank you for the answer, Kelria. And as for my home, my family used to live on an island to the west of Solitude. I would guess they still do"

Kelria nodded and motioned her head at the horse "I am not going to let you lead her, just saying. So either you sit behind or go on foot"

Serana narrowed her eyes smirking "Still will be faster than you are"

"You wish."

"Then try me." Serana snorted and looked at her challengingly.

Kelria rolled her eyes and mounted the horse before extending her hand to Serana. "Let's just get it over with."

Serana gave her a smile and took Kelria's hand, hopping up behind her.

Suddenly they both felt some stinging in their clasped hands. Serana's hand was as cold as ice, but the feeling Kelria had was like it was on fire. She quickly removed her own and turned away to the reins, leaving Serana contemplating too at what had happened between them.

"Hold on tight" Kelria spoke barely audible before cueing her horse into a gallop.

* * *

A beautiful view of Whiterun opened in front of them. In some places around the city the grass was covered in snow. The evening sun reflecting on it was so fascinating that it looked like the snow was an orange-and-purple warm blanket.

They had come across a small bandit camp, intentionally. Serana had been hungry for thousands of years, so Kelria decided it would be the best option for her to feed on the bandits, as she couldn't let her harm the innocents. But even the sight of Serana draining their blood was sickening, so she had returned to her horse right after fight and tried to block out any sound.

There was no way she wanted to spend the night in the woods when Kelria had her own house in Whiterun as an insisted reward she got from Jarl Balgruuf.

Kelria pulled the horse to a slow pace when they neared the open gates and entered the city. It was as crowded as she remembered it was seven months ago. She had left the city after defeating Alduin, leaving everything behind in pursuit of adventures. She had had no reason to return and intention on being drug into the war, knowing that even Jarl Balgruff had sided with the Empire. It's not like she didn't want to restore peace in Skyrim, but she knew that she would be no help in the war. It was selfish, Kelria knew it, but unless she got a solid reason to side with either Stormcloaks or the Legion, she would try to escape even a mention of it.

Kelria halted the horse by Breezehome, her house. It hadn't change a bit, since she last saw it. She climbed off the horse, motioning for Serana to do the same, and walked up the small stairs towards the door. She turned the handle to the left, trying to open it, but it wouldn't move.

Locked.

Apparently, Lydia, her housecarl, had locked the door before leaving the house. Kelria had asked her to look after it when she left. Lydia had been very disappointed when she heard that her Thane would abandon her. She had asked multiple times for Kelria to stay and change her mind, even to take the housecarl with her. Kelria regretted the decision now, realizing how much she misses her.

She sighed and turned to her rucksack hanging from the horse's backside. She found a key inside and lifted the rucksack to put it over her shoulder with a strap. Kelria now opened the door and both of them stepped into a dark room, never noticing a little girl watching over them from the other side of the road and running away.

* * *

Serana lifted down her hood when she closed the door behind her and looked around the room. She watched as Kelria walked towards the fireplace in the center of the big room and ignited the fire from her palm, lighting the firewood.

The place now became more vivid and cozy and Serana took in every detail. The hallway was connected to the dining room right behind the fireplace. Everything was clean, apparently the house was taken a good care of. There was a lot of shelves along the walls, full of books and scrolls. Farther, near the left wall, there was stairs leading onto the second floor. The house was indeed not small for one person and Serana wondered if Kelria really lived here alone.

Kelria stood up turning to face Serana and shrugged shyly "I know it's not that nice and beautiful how you, perhaps, imagined it to be."

"It's quite alright, I actually like it here." the vampire said calmly.

Kelria rubbed the back of her head "Uhm...thank you. We're moving out first thing in the morning. So feel free to have a look around if you wish" She walked over to the table and put her sword on it before retrieving some cloth and dumping it in the water.

Serana gave a last glance at Kelria cleaning her sword and slowly moved towards a bookshelf. "Kelria, may I ask you something?" She run her fingers on the rugged covers of the books, reading the titles.

"Of course" Kelria answered, still occupied with her task.

Serana pondered for a few moments before asking. "Who are you? I mean, you told me you were a vampire hunter. Yet you're helping me when you could have killed me right on the spot. This is...odd.

Kelria stopped cleaning her weapon, thinking if she should tell her the truth "Well...I know it would be of no importance anyway but there is so-..." she paused abruptly when she heard a heavy knock on the door. She looked in the direction of the sound, dumb-founded.

' _Lydia wouldn't knock if she didn't know I had returned_ ' she thought to herself and called out to Serana, keeping her voice low "Go upstairs. Now"

Without making any sound, Serana ran up the stairs. After making sure the house was quiet, Kelria moved to the door and rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed, upon hearing another impatient knock. She opened the door and was taken aback at the sight in front of her.

A red-haired woman, with a man behind her, was leaning against the door frame with her arms folded "It's time we finally talk, Dragonborn"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Rating changed to M due to presence of coarse language.**

 **Please leave reviews, I really want to know what you think ^^**  
 **Have a good day :3**

* * *

 **Chapter 3  
**  
 **Jorrvaskr, Whiterun. 7 months ago.**

 _Kelria adjusted her small dark brown scarf around her neck and proceeded to pack her things into the rucksack nervously. She was standing in a small room, the candles were the only source of bright light. She looked at the sword and a dagger on the bed and quickly strapped them on her belt. She needed to leave as soon as possible before..._

 _"What the hell are you doing?" a familiar, even too familiar voice came from behind._

 _Kelria hesitated for a moment but continued to close up the rucksack with the straps, wishing she could just avoid the upcoming conversation._

 _"Answer me!" the impatient and demanding tone could be heard in Aela's voice. Kelria turned around and looked at her, speaking quietly._

 _"I'm leaving" she turned to her bag, setting it up properly._

 _"What's that supposed to mean, Dragonborn?" a woman with a red like flames hair and the usual warpaint on her face, clenched her teeth._

 _"Am I not clear enough?" Kelria started to get annoyed. She knew it was a bad idea to vanish all of a sudden after slaying Alduin several days ago. But she held the reason for that, which she couldn't tell Aela. She wasn't ready. And she wanted to protect the one she cared about. This werewolf._

 _The redhead strode to her and gripped Kelria's forearm, forcing her to face her. "Don't toy with me, Kelria. I need the answer! Why?"_

 _Kelria shook her head, brushing off Aela's hand, and took a heavy sigh. "Doesn't matter."_

 _The taller woman slammed her fist down on the table, losing her temper "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"_

 _Keria closed her eyes and whispered "I'm sorry. It will be best for both of us."_

 _"For both of us?! Escaping the commitment now, are we? You're a coward, Dragonborn" Aela's eyes gave out anger and fury, but one could catch some gleam of tears at the corner of her eyes._

 _Kelria opened her own looking into Aela's. The longer she stayed, the harder it was to walk out on the woman she had feelings for. It was the worst decision to make but there was no other option. She couldn't hurt anyone. Not again._

 _"I'm sorry." she said once again and stormed out of Aela's room, carrying the rucksack over her shoulder. She heard Aela furiously kick the cupboard with force, letting out a cry. Through the small bond they managed to create between each other, Kelria could feel the wolf howling inside. It was heartbreaking. She could never forgive herself for doing this, but she had no choice._

 _On the stairs she stumbled upon Farkas, her best friend who had never said a bad word to her since she joined the Companions. She looked up at him and they both heard another rattle coming from the quarters._

 _Kelria grabbed his shoulder and muttered desperately "Please, take care of her." With these last words she strode out of Jorrvaskr, leaving Farkas bemused.  
_

* * *

 **Breezehome, Whiterun. Present day.**

"Well, hello to you too, Aela." Kelria could swear she would get a headache within the next five minutes.

"Hey, Kelria" Farkas waved a little awkwardly at her and gave her a warm smile. His whole face expression showed how much he missed his friend. He had always been genuine with Kelria. They both had supported each other in the time of need. She hated herself for blindly leaving Farkas without a proper farewell.

Kelria nodded at him, returning the smile. But it faltered when she looked at Aela again.

"May we walk in?" Without receiving an answer the redhead walked past Kelria into the entryway, bumping Kelria's shoulder intentionally. "Thanks"

It was already irritating Kelria. She knew well of Aela's attitude and there was no way she could earn her trust again. Not after what had happened between them a while ago.

Kelria stepped aside to let Farkas in. He nodded appreciatively and followed after Aela. Both werewolves were sensing something and thus were very tensed and stiff. Kelria closed the door and turned around to face the two. Aela walked towards the table before tracing her finger along the sword's blade. Farkas was standing against the bookshelf, the uneasiness in his composure could be visible.

Kelria looked at Aela in question and folded her arms, tilting her head and cautiously glancing at the stairs before looking back at the woman "Want to tell me what's going on?"

Aela finally sat down on a chair before drumming her fingers against the table "A lot's going on. A war, if you haven't noticed. Oh wait, I forget you wanted to escape from everything and let the bloodshed go on." Aela mocked, looking at her with contempt.

 _'This isn't going anywhere...'_ Kelria rolled her eyes and shook her head in annoyance.

"Cut the shit, Aela. What do you want?"

"Seems like Farkas and I are the only reasonable people among the Companions. We want the war to end. And the only way to do this is to help the Empire defeat Ulfric. This asshole had always been on my nerves and I want to destroy his so-called rebellion. Skyrim should belong to the imperials, not some racist bastards that claim they could rule people."

Kelria snorted in response "You're a Harbinger. You, of all people, should know that the Companions are neutral when it comes to politics. Since when has the rule changed?"

"It hasn't. And I don't give a shit about whether it's forbidden or not. The rest are just too blind to see that if Ulfric wins the war, we all will be wiped out."

"And what do I have to do with this?" Kelria walked towards the table and sat down opposite to Aela, facing both her and Farkas.

"You're a selfish idiot, Dragonborn. Don't you see that the Stormcloaks will spare no one's life if they happen to succeed? Don't you get at least a bit worried about the innocents?"

"I have done so much for them. You think they appreciate my help? They crave for more. They want me to exceed their expectations. Might I remind you, the imperials once tried to chop my fucking head off. I have closed my eyes on this. I have defeated Alduin, the worst possible threat to Skyrim. And what do they want now? Power. What you're saying is nonsense, and you know it."

She peeked at Farkas, who was even more tense than before and looking around as if trying to search or feel something. _'They're so close...'_ She looked back slowly at Aela when she heard her speaking.

"People make mistakes. But there is no time to talk about the past. We must live the present moment. We need your help, Kelria. Once Jarl Elisif becomes the High Queen, there finally will-"

"You're kidding me, right?" Kelria raised her eyebrow chuckling, cutting off Aela's sentence. "You want that girl on the throne? There is no way Skyrim would want to live under her rule."

"For the love of Talos, Dragonborn, can you at least sometimes think rationally? Do you really think-" She didn't finished the sentence as she jumped from her seat and stiffened, sniffing the air. Farkas pushed against the wall and walked to the center of the room, growling. Kelria's fears were confirmed now. She knew it was a matter of time before an unpleasant confrontation would take place.

She stood up, her heart pounding, and threw a glance at Aela, watching her scowling with anger in the Huntress's eyes.

"What the fuck is this, Dragonborn? You brought a bloodsucker into your house? Come out, you mindless beast." Aela gritted her teeth and it was visible that her wolf would take over any second.

"Aela, let's talk about it. She won't harm any of us" Kelria's voice started to sound pleading without her permission.

"Where is it?!" The female werewolf looked at Kelria disdainfully. In a moment the scorn on her face was wiped when she was knocked off her feet by Serana's weight. The vampire's expression was one of hatred and anger, her fangs were menacingly showing.

Kelria quickly grabbed her sword and pointed it at Farkas, who was already going to transform and growling loud. "Don't you dare". She saw Aela throwing Serana off herself with all her force, which made the vampire fly away against the opposite wall, hitting it hard.

"Enough!" No one could hear Kelria's cry as both Farkas and Aela, with their fangs and claws threatening, were going to gang up on now recovered Serana. _'For fuck's sake.'_

"Fus Ro Dah!" The strong power of Thu'um sent everybody flying in different directions. The house shook hard. In a few seconds most furniture was toppled over, the dishes were shattered on the floor and the fire from the firepit was extinguished by the blow. Kelria paid no attention to people's startled screams outside, nor did she feel sorry for the three bodies collapsing against the floor. She was sick of all that.

"Now if any one of you tries to put up another fight, I swear I will feed you to a dragon" she spoke with venom, looking at the three with contempt.

A few moments passed when Serana stood up slowly, leaning against the wall and kneading her neck with her hand. She watched as Farkas got up, brushing the dust off himself before walking up to snarling Aela and extending his hand to her. Aela ignored the gesture and rose to her feet, glaring at Serana in disgust.

Kelria looked around, slightly ashamed of the result. _'Lydia will totally kill me'_. She turned to the three again, returning the blade to its place on her belt, and spoke a bit calmer. "Now let me explain everything before you all manage to rip each other's throats out"

"You're making a great mistake by bringing this vampire here." Aela pointed at Serana, narrowing her eyes. "Gods know this bloodsucker could have hundreds accomplices just to murder all people in Whiterun."

"Scared much? Fear not, we don't drink blood from dirty dogs like you" the vampire smirked at Aela, receiving a fierce glare back.

"Knock it off!" Kelria was losing her temper. She was regretting coming here in the first place. She wished she could just drop everything and leave. "Her name is Serana", she continued with a normal tone "I found her in a cave in some strange crypt I was sent to investigate. She's not like the others. If she was..." Kelria looked at Serana, contemplating "I would have been dead by now"

Serana shifted uncomfortably, keeping her eyes down.

"You have always surprised me, but I didn't think you'd be that foolish to bring _it_ here-"

"She has a name, Aela" Kelria clenched her fist. "We're here only temporarily. I promised her I would take her to her home."

"Why would you even do that? Why do you defend her?" Everyone glanced at Farkas, who had been keeping quiet until this very moment.

"Because I'm not that cruel like some of you here" Kelria inhaled deeply as she switched gazes between the two werewolves.

Aela huffed and shook her head "And where do you live, vampire? Oh, forgive me for my mistake, you're not even alive." Her attitude was getting on Kelria's nerves. The Huntress could get an award for being the bitterest bitch in the whole Tamriel.

Serana fought the urge to roll her eyes before answering "West to Solitude. At least it was my home before I was hidden in that cryptic place back there"

Kelria paid little attention to Farkas whispering something to Aela before giving Serana the last disgusted glance and silently striding off. "Who did that to you?"

"My mother. She put me in there with one of the Elder Scrolls. I don't know why she did that but I think she tried to hide it away from my father"

Aela looked at her curiously "The Elder Scroll? You have it? I thought it was just a legend."

The vampire nodded at the werewolf and looked at Kelria "I placed it in the bedroom for safety." she then looked between the two "I need to get to my father to know what happens now. If he hasn't found out about my awakening already..."

Kelria walked through the mess and picked up a chair before moving it to the table and sitting down on it "Seems like he does care about you."

Aela stood by the wall with her arms folded and watched the vampire carefully.

"He doesn't, trust me. We never really got along with each other. And I still don't know what he did to my mother. They always disgusted one another so the only thing that comes to mind is that she is dead. By his hand, I assume. So I have no other option but to head to my home." Serana said the last words softly, as if nothing had happened here merely five minutes ago.

Kelria put one hand on the table, thinking "If your father hasn't treated you fairly then you don't have to return to him. Just stay here, we'll think of something."

Aela suddenly shot her a glare "What the hell are you talking?"

"Kelria, this is not a good idea." Serana shook her head sadly.

"From what you told us, he sounds quite dangerous and..."

"...and that's why I should give the scroll back. That's what he wants. And I don't want to have innocent people get harmed by his cruelty."

"And would it be fair if you get harmed then?" Kelria's question made Serana let out a nervous breath.

"He... He wouldn't do that to me. I'm still his daughter." Serana didn't even know whether she lied to herself or not. The whole relationship between her father and herself had always been confusing. His essence was his own needs and what he had always wanted. Power.

Kelria was feeling truly sorry for the female vampire. She felt helpless regarding Serana's family issues. Clearly there was no way she could convince her not to go back to her living place. Yet the seed of concern was gradually growing inside.

"If you'll excuse me, I'd like to have some time alone." Serana's velvet voice gave out a tone of sadness. She put up her hood and turned to leave the house.

"Wait a minute, and how do we trust you won't flee or get a legion of bloodsuckers here?" Aela narrowed her eyes, pushing off against the wall and measuring the vampire with her eyes.

Serana looked between the two women from under the hood and spoke quietly "Because I'm leaving the Scroll here"

Neither of them stopped Serana, knowing that her words were quite reasonable. Though it did tug at Kelria that it was quite dangerous to wander around the city for a vampire. For both Serana's and people's sake.

A bang of the door closing was the last thing Aela and Kelria heard before the house fell into a deathly silence. They simply stared at each other, saying nothing.

Seconds passed. Silence. Kelria couldn't take it anymore. She stood up from her chair, looking away at the scattered books that had fallen from the shelves.

"Aela, we need to ta-"

"I want to know the reason why." Aela's quite tone was not what Kelria expected. She was ready for a fierce argument but not for the calm words on the older woman's part.

"Why what?" She perfectly knew where the conversation was leading to.

"Why did you leave me? All those seven months... I haven't seen you and now you're coming back with the vampire by your side. Why?"

Dragonborn looked down, avoiding the werewolf's hard stare. "I had to... I couldn't be around anyone, around you..."

Aela walked to her slowly, a tint of worry showed up on her face. "Why's that?"

Kelria shook her head sadly "I don't want to talk about it." She tried to close her eyes but was forced to look into Aela's when the woman's gentle hand tilted her chin up. Her eyes were so captivating, yet full of concern. It was a rare time when Aela had ever shown care and tenderness. Those were the moments Kelria wished could last forever.

"A few weeks after you left... I sent a word to Jarl Elisif about your disappearance. I asked her to have her men search for you. All around their lands. Because it was killing me, Kelria." Aela's eyes were now glistening with some tears. "You have no idea how I felt when I was told there was no sign of you anywhere. I was losing hope... I was helpless." She brushed Kelria's cheek with her thumb tenderly. "Tell me I don't deserve to know the reason why you left me suffering."

The emotions, coursing through Kelria, were overwhelming. She couldn't find any words to respond to Aela's touching confession, so she closed her eyes leaning in the woman's warm touch.

She missed the feeling of being so close to Aela, being cared for by her and enjoying the warmness that was radiating from her body. She wanted this moment to last but she knew that it was time to tell Aela the truth.

Kelria slowly opened her eyes, trying to come up with better words in her mind. "After ending Alduin, I started to have...nightmares. Every single night I went to sleep. It was all blurred, yet there was blood...destruction...panic and...terror." she was trying her best to hold back tears coming from her eyes but the attempt was futile. "With time it had gotten worse and more vivid. I cried out in my sleep when I saw you lying in blood...dead. I couldn't take it anymore, Aela." she closed her eyes, wincing. "Please forgi-"

She was silenced by having warm lips pressed gently against her own. She froze like a statue, not making any move. It had been a long time since they two felt the heat of each other's bodies. Kelria missed the taller woman's kisses, her lips, her red hair, her... everything. She missed _Aela_.

Kelria heaved a sigh of relief and responded to the kiss when Aela pulled her closer by placing her arm on the small of her back. She put her hand on the taller woman's shoulder, moving her lips against Aela's. Their kiss was the moment they both expressed their true feelings for each other. It wasn't full of hunger and a desperate passion, yet it was full of care and sheer tenderness.

Minutes felt like hours. Hours of peace and calmness. Kelria pulled back slightly and rested her forehead against Aela's. She wanted this moment to last. To be held in the strong arms and feel the woman's breath against her lips. She wished to be stripped off from her Dragonborn's title and duties and live a peaceful normal life with a woman she was in... Love? Kelria didn't know if that was love, but all she wanted was to be with Aela for the rest of her life.

They didn't say a word. Because none was needed. They were enough for each other and only this mattered. They stood like this for minutes, simply enjoying the embrace and a steady beating of their hearts.

It was when they heard screams outside, did they look at the entrance, eyes of both held worry. The screams were louder and louder with every moment and they both felt something terrible was happening. Kelria gripped the hilt of her sword and the two of them stormed out of the house into the street, darkness of the late evening falling upon it.

The view before them was terrifying. People were running back and forth, some crying and looking as if they had seen a dragon. Kelria spotted blood on some people's clothes and drew out her sword. She saw her companion tensing in her peripheral vision and they both hurried up to where people were running from. They turned around the corner to a valley and noticed a man, straddling the waist of a woman's motionless body with his mouth pressed against her bloody neck.

He was drinking her blood. It was impossible...Whiterun was in chaos. Shouts, screams, desperate cries of pain and fear were filling Kelria's ears.

She settled her gaze upon a nearing group of vampires, who were coming closer to them, readying their spells and daggers. What struck Kelria was that their eyes were not glowing red. They were like... Serana's... An instant wave of the ire washed over her.

"I knew we couldn't trust that fucking bloodsucker." Aela growled furiously. No sign of previous tenderness was left on her face. Only anger and rage. In a split second she leapt forward, transforming into her wolf form and throwing herself on one of the vampires.

Kelria rushed towards the man who was still drinking blood and kicked him in his side with force, keeling him over and cutting his throat. She looked down at the poor woman sympathetically and turned to run over to the fight, where the werewolf wrestled the vampire down.

 _'This night is going to be long'_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: It's been a month since the update (yes I'm a lazy arse), but I want to wish everyone belated Merry Christamas and Happy New Year ^^ Hope the new year turns out great for all of you :3  
Thank you all for the alerts, they are what keeps the story going :p  
Enjoy ^^  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Serana inhaled deeply as she closed the door behind her. The air...She had missed the scent of the nature, having been locked up for thousands of years. And now she couldn't get enough. The corners of her lips twitched in a faint smile. She realized that it was a way of a human - to breath. Vampires like her never had to breath, and no one she had ever known even did that.

But Serana was enjoying it nonetheless. She was glad that despite the fact that her body was dead, she still could behave like a normal person. And one could hardly mistake her for a vampire. Well, apart from her glowing eyes, pale skin and a necessity of drinking blood.

She took a few long moments to make sure everything was quiet in the house before adjusting her hood properly over her head. The sun was going down and she was content that not all of its rays reached the street, because of the houses, that were somewhat blocking the light.

Serana began to walk down the few steps and joined the flow of the crowd on the street road, carefully hiding her eyes. All sorts of sounds surrounded her: shouts of the sellers at the market, a clinking rattle of a blacksmith's instruments, conversations, laughter, even the songs of the birds that were sitting on the roofs of the buildings could be heard.

She headed to the upper part of the city, walked under the stone arch and then turned around the corner to a less crowded street. Eyeing the houses that surrounded her, she spotted the one that was closer to the city wall. Serana smiled. A perfect spot. After making sure that she wasn't dragging anyone's attention, she walked towards the back of the house and leapt up without any effort, before landing gracefully on the roof.

The city, in its own beauty, the mountains and fields spread in front of her. She sat down, relaxing and watched closely the life beneath her. That was what she had always lacked back in her home, where only the dead were around her. She had never had a choice how to live her life. All the decisions, whether she had liked them or not, had always been made by her family. She never had a free will. Especially after becoming a vampire.

Serana clenched her fist at the darkest and worst memory and after inhaling the air once more, she allowed herself to return her thoughts to her savior. Kelria... Dragonborn. _The_ Dragonborn. It was a mystery to Serana why that girl didn't tell her who she really was. And finding that out was under quite unpleasant circumstances. The Dragonborn herself was such a young girl, and Serana couldn't possibly imagine that Kelria carried such a heavy burden on her shoulders.

The girl herself was so enigmatic. But in spite of that, Serana knew she could trust Kelria. Even with the little time she was with the girl something in the back of her mind was telling her not to leave Kelria's side, even if she would happen to find her home.

No...she couldn't. The Dragonborn had Skyrim to save, and she couldn't stand on her way. But she was... drawn to her. ' _Selfish idiot_ ', Serana mentally slapped herself, ' _She doesn't even like you...And why would she? You're a vampire, a monster_ '. Serana rubbed her forehead, sighing deeply.

* * *

She didn't know how long she was sitting there, the sun was already barely visible on the horizon. And she just stared at the reducing crowd on the streets. Some unusual movement caught her attention on the side city wall. Several black figures were leaping over the walls, onto the buildings and down on the ground.

Something was wrong...

One figure turned its head, as if taking in surroundings, in Serana's direction. She gasped.

The eyes...

' _No, no, no, no_ '. Serana sprang up quickly to her feet, and jumped off the building, landing on the ground before rushing towards those figures.

She ran no more than ten meters when she heard a loud female scream, full of pain. She increased her speed, which was unhuman, one of the vampire perks she was proud of.

Serana drew out her dagger when she spotted a vampire, feeding on a young man, and a dead woman, lying nearby with a sliced throat. She gritted her teeth and leapt forward towards the vampire, knocking him out with a hard punch to his skull before ending him with the dagger to his guts.

She looked at the dead bodies on the ground and tightened the grip on the hilt of the dagger, growling. 'I _nnocents...It was all my fault, I shouldn't have come here..._ '

Her thoughts were trailed off by the sounds of fighting, clinking metal and pain-filled screams. She gathered herself before running towards the city center, ensuring she was leaving no vampire alive on her way.

* * *

Kelria wiped the remains of the vampires off her sword against the robes of the one who was lying with his limbs that were twisted in peculiar way, thanks to the werewolf's handiwork.

Another couple was heading to them, weapons drawn and spells ready. She heard someone coming their way from behind and carefully turned her head, her sword still directed at the vampires, to see Farkas and Vilkas standing next to her. Their eyes were full of rage and Kelria understood their concern.

Both of them looked at the couple of vampires and Kelria shook her head. "No, go help the other Companions to clear out the other parts and find the chief guard, tell him to search the city's outskirts". The two brothers nodded, still glaring at the vampires, and wordlessly ran off, confident in Aela and Kelria.

After a few minutes, Kelria was already swinging a fatal strike at the last vampire, who was lying on the ground beneath her with his hand torn off, when a loud voice came from behind.

"No, wait!" Serana was quickly making her way to them but stopped abruptly when the werewolf growled loudly at her, threatening to tear her apart at any moment.

Kelria pressed her foot on the vampire's neck, eliciting a discontent groan from him, and turned her head to face Serana, narrowing her eyes at the woman.

Serana looked between Aela and Kelria apologetically "I...I didn't know...I'm so sorry...". Aela's growl became even louder and threatening.  
Serana forced herself to shift her eyes from the werewolf to the vampire who was wiggling tirelessly under Kelria's boot. She pointed at him "I ne-...We need answers." She looked at Kelria in hope "Please".

In a few moments, Kelria finally removed her foot from the vampire's throat but closely watched both him and Serana. Aela started slowly pacing around the group, staying alert all the time. The fighting in the city seemed to gradually go quieter, yet people's pained and mourn cries could still be heard throughout Whiterun.

Serana moved closer to the vampire and lifted him off the ground by his neck, gripping it with her hand tightly. He growled and stirred, trying to break free, but the grasp was too strong and all his attempts came in vain.

The memory hit her. She remembered the man, a bit vaguely. He was a pathetic servant of her father. And now he sent those creatures to Whiterun. How could he know that?

Serana clenched her teeth. "It was Lord Harkon, wasn't it?" To her surprise, all she got as an answer was an evil smirk from the vampire. She put even more pressure on his neck, but fought the urge not to snap it.

Kelria and Aela, who was still in the werewolf form, were just standing there, waiting for the right moment to tear the vampire apart.

"How does he know?" Serana raised her voice and received a scowl from the man.

"My, my, little Serana. Don't you know that Lord Harkon knows everything? He has eyes everywhere."

"Answer me, or these will be the last words you ever say." She gripped at his neck tighter, her voice held annoyance.

He just chuckled at the threat but then looked at her fiercely "I've heard him talk about catching some group of humans with crossbows, vampire hunters. Pathetic. They were heading to the Dimhollow Crypt." He let out a disgusting laugh "They, of course, didn't make it. But before our precious kin ended them, they said something about Dragonborn going there as well. And then..." He paused dramatically, smirking at Kelria "Some of our friends watched the two of you all the way to this dirty, dirty place. Words spread very fast to our beloved Lord Harkon."

Serana looked at him gravely, her desire to finish him was slowly taking over. "What does he want?"

"As if you don't know that, my lady. He wants you. And what you have." He spoke slowly, enjoying the mixed-up expression on her face.

Serana quickly glanced at Kelria "The Scroll...".

The realization hit into Kelria as she gathered herself and stormed off to her house, as fast as possible. She couldn't let those bloodsuckers even touch the Scroll. If Lord Harkon wanted it, then the outcome of him getting it would be very severe.

* * *

She quickly ran up the stairs, her sword ready, and carefully walked towards her bedroom. Silence.

Before she could even reach the door, she felt a sudden pain in the back of her head and the invisible force knocked her off her feet. Despite the sharp pain, Kelria sprang up to her feet, feeling a little dizzy, but ended up face-to-face with a female vampire, who was ready to pounce on her in a moment.

Kelria stepped aside as soon as the vampire leapt forward, and used the sword with all her strength to slice the head off the vampire's shoulders.

She sighed heavily as she watched its head and body collapse onto the floor, before reaching out with her hand to the back of her head, relaxing as she didn't feel anything wet and warm there. ' _One less problem to worry about_ '.

She turned around and ran into her bedroom, sighing in relief as she noticed the Elder Scroll lying on the cupboard.

* * *

Serana heaved a sigh when she looked at nearing Kelria with the Scroll. She nodded at her in thanks and forced a faint smile. Aela had already transformed back into the human form, but was still watching Serana closely, never letting her guard down.

Kelria looked down at the dead vampire, his neck was twisted in impossible way. She lifted her head up to look at the two women in question.

"He told us nothing useful" said Aela and shrugged her shoulder, her voice sounded casual.

"I need to go back to my father... I can't let innocent people suffer wherever I am. Maybe I'll happen to persuade him." Serana said quietly, shaking slightly.

"You better get lost", Aela scowled at her and pointed at the Scroll that was behind Kelria's back, "and without the Elder Scroll. We can't let your twisted father do whatever he wanted to do with it."

"Aela, please go see to the Companions and instruct the guards." Kelria looked at her seriously, but there was a soft request in her eyes. "Please"

Aela couldn't stand taking orders. But it was her Kelria. She sighed, measuring Serana with her eyes once again, and strode off.

Despite the unpleasant throbbing pain in the back of her head, Kelria tried to hold her composure. She walked up silently to Serana, stopping a few feet from her.

She let a long pause hang in the air before whispering "Tell me you didn't know about this". Kelria looked into Serana's eyes so thoroughly, trying to find the truth there.

The vampire gazed into the Dragonborn's beautiful blue eyes and just weakly shook her head. After a long moment she whispered softly, sadness and genuineness clearly sounded in her voice "I didn't, Kelria. I'm so sorry it happened."

Kelria never let herself be deceived. Lies and betrayal were the things she hated most in people. But nonetheless, for some reason, she didn't see these traits in the female vampire. It was confusing to her. Trusting a dangerous stranger was beyond her understanding.

She nodded as she allowed herself to contemplate for a moment. " I can't let you return to your...mad...father. Nor do I want the Scroll to get into his hands. If this is a value to him, apparently nothing good comes out of him using it." She watched as Serana dropped her head and shook it in despair. Kelria could probably guess what was going through Serana's mind.

"I have an old dear friend of mine." she continued softly. "He has always been good at giving advice. Maybe he will help. And this Scroll..." She paused for a moment, biting down her lip.

"Dragonborns are able to read it" Serana said quickly, lifting her head up. "You can" Kelria looked at her apologetically. Serana knew.

She just sadly shook her head. "I can't. That's why I need someone who can at least help us find the right person."

"Us?" Serana looked at her questioningly.

"I...I'm not going to force you to come with me."

"I'll come with you." Serana gave a weak smile, nodding. "I have nothing left, Kelria. Please, don't leave me. You are the only fr-...person I can trust" She inhaled deeply, hoping Kelria wouldn't notice the correction.

"We'll sort this out." Kelria carefully placed her hand on the vampire's shoulder. "I promise"

Before Serana could look down at the soft hand, Kelria withdrew it, the touch was too short to her own liking. She sighed softly and nodded in thanks.

"Come on, we need to meet with others" Kelria motioned her head for Serana to follow her.

* * *

"My Thane!" a brunette exclaimed and ran towards Kelria, literally pouncing on her before hugging her with all her strength.

Kelria laughed and returned the embrace. "Lydia, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Kelria?"

"Until my dying day" Lydia chuckled and finally let go of Kelria. Her smile faltered and she looked sadly at her. "I'm sorry for what happened here. I was in Dragonsreach with Jarl Balgruuf and when I heard fighting, I joined the guards as fast as possible."

It was already an early morning and they were standing near Breezehome. Aela, Serana and the two brothers Farkas and Vilkas were standing near them.

The streets had been cleared and lit up. No corpse had been left and only a small squad of guards was patrolling in silence.

"It's okay, Lydia. I'm grateful you helped us." Kelria nodded at her before turning to the others "Now the war is not the only threat to Skyrim. Whether we like it or not, vampires are not leaving until we wipe them out. Not only those who attacked Whiterun tonight, but also the ones who are currently hiding in depths of Skyrim."

She turned to Farkas and Vilkas "You should stay here with other Companions and protect the city and its surroundings." She waited for them to object but they nodded instead.

Kelria looked at Aela, a bit uncertain "Serana and I are going to the Greybeards. We need to find out a way to read the Scroll, since this is what Harkon wants the most. I am very confident vampires won't dare to climb up there."

Aela frowned at Kelria and Serana "That's out of question, I'm not letting you go with this bloodsucker"

Lydia visibly tensed at the words but kept silent.

"Aela, I want you to trust me. I know what I'm doing, whether you like it or not. And I need you to go to Solitude with Lydia. If Jarl Elisif agrees to cooperate against the vampires, then ask her to send word to her allies. I know she trusts you. We'll leave Ulfric's territories to the vampire hunters. May they take care of them." She ignored the discontent grumble from Aela.

She looked between everyone and then turned to Lydia "Lydia, Jarl Elisif knows you very well, and she knows you're my housecarl. Ask her to get a house there for both you and Aela, I'm sure she won't mind. If needed, I'll send the money to you. And I will meet up with you there in a few months."

Lydia nodded at her with sadness in her eyes. She had just only met her first time in seven months and now she was watching her leave again.

Kelria motioned for everyone to follow her out of the city through the gates and out in the open. She stopped before taking a breath and using her Thu'um.

" _OD-AH-VIING_ " The powerful Voice shook the ground and Kelria gazed far at the horizon where sun was slowly rising. After a few moments she heard a familiar roar of the dragon before he finally appeared in the sky.

She smiled to herself when he was going down to land in front of them. So graceful. She came closer to him as he touched the ground and run her hand along his snout.

"Drem Yol Lok, Dovahkiin" His low voice had always calmed Kelria and soothed her every worry.

"Drem Yol Lok, Odahviing. I need your help, again. Can you take me and my friend to the Throat of the World?"

He let out a puff from his nostrils and inclined his massive head "Geh, Dovahkiin. This is the least I can do for you. I am surprised it is quite a boring request this time. I was, no doubts, looking forward to burn something." He chuckled at his own words, which sounded like he was coughing.

Kelria patted his snout and smiled "Next time, I assure you. I'm not leaving you without fun." She turned towards the group and walked slowly to them, seeing as Lydia, beaming, ran over to Odahviing and embraced his neck before stroking slightly and starting a conversation with him, apparently willing to tease him like she always did.

Vilkas and Farkas were standing a bit far from them, discussing the latest events and clearly not willing to bother any of the people.

Kelria moved closer to Aela, who was looking back at her and still not believing she was losing the girl again. Serana cleared her throat, giving the two some privacy and joined Lydia and the dragon, who were both friendly and happy to take her in and started to ask her questions.

Aela's eyes were already glittering and Kelria felt an unpleasant knot twisting in her stomach. Again. She was leaving her.

"Promise me you will come back" Aela's soft voice sounded pleading, which rarely happened to the tough and stern woman.

Kelria gently took her warm hand in hers and squeezed it, giving her a soft smile. "I promise." Giving promises...again. She hated herself and would hate more if she repeated the same mistakes again.

Aela reached out with her other hand to cup Kelria's cheek and pulled her closer in a tender kiss. Kelria encircled the woman's waist with her arms and sighed contentedly, enjoying the warm lips against hers. This way, she was sealing the promise. She will return.

Reluctantly, after a few long moments of tenderness, Kelria pulled back and stroked Aela's cheek, that was still covered in the war paint. She heaved a sigh, steppeing out of the embrace and walked towards smiling Lydia, hugging her tightly and receiving a bear hug as well. She leaned in closer to her ear and whispered softly, only for Lydia to hear "Please, take care of Aela."

They pulled back and Lydia nodded with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Kelria turned to Serana and gave her the Scroll before climbing on Odahviing's back and holding out her hand to Serana.

"I hope you don't mind heights." said Kelria with a tint of smirk on her face and Serana chuckled softly, shaking her head.

They were settled when Kelria waved at the group and gave a last long look at Aela, who was standing there, staring back at her. In a few moments they were up in the sky, flying towards the sun.

* * *

"Idiots!" the dark-haired man stood up from his throne and moved to the table before slamming his hand on it with all his strength. The sound echoed loudly through the dining hall.

He clenched his teeth, looking between what was left of the vampires he sent out, fury and anger in his eyes. "How?! How could you let that happen?! It was the easiest task and yet you failed!"

Everybody looked up from their routine of feeding on humans that were lying on the table. Blood was everywhere. ' _Pigs_ ' He thought and growled.

"Forgive us, my Lord, it won't happen again. We will find Lady Serana." said a vampire that stood closest to Harkon, trembling and his voice shaking.

Harkon moved closer to the vampire and leaned in, baring his fangs at him in a threatening manner. "You better do if you don't want your limbs to hang around the hall as a decoration."

He stood upright and turned around to move to his throne and sit down, putting one leg on the other, his hands on the armrest "And bring me that Dragonborn. We shall have a pleasant chat. Or maybe not that pleasant."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

A cool wind was blowing her hair and the small scarf around her neck while she and Serana sat on the dragon's back, up in the sky. The feeling of being far above the ground once again excited Kelria. She had always loved to escape all concerns and worries just by asking Odahviing for a ride. He never objected. She was sure he loved letting her fly with him far away from the problems, from reality and life. It had always been three of them: Kelria, Odahviing and the freedom. That was what she had always needed. All the Dragonborn's duties could go to the damn Void.

She shook off her thoughts and inhaled the air deeply, looking down at small, barely visible houses far away from them. The even flapping of the dragon's wings was soothing. What was more soothing was the feeling of Serana's arms on her stomach. The woman clutched at her clothes from behind, apparently not used to fly on a dragon at all. Kelria smiled faintly and turned her head slightly to give a glance to Serana, as if asking if she was alright like that. Serana returned the soft smile, and despite her first time riding a dragon she felt so comfortable, so...natural being close to the Dragonborn. Whether she thought it had been selfish to ask Kelria not to leave her or not, it didn't matter to her now. None of this mattered. She was simply enjoying the closeness.

Soon they saw a huge snow-covered mountain, clouds were somewhat blocking the view but as they got closer, the mount appeared in all its glory. There were nearing High Hrothgar. Kelria was sure that the Greybeards would notice the massive dragon circling up in the sky. After a few minutes preparing for the landing, Odahviing started to go down to the courtyard, carefully and gracefully lowering on the ground.

When the dragon was completely on his paws, he lowered his stance to let the two slide down from his back. Kelria jumped down on the snow which immediately crisped underneath her boots. She turned to help Serana, going to hold out her arms but upon seeing that the woman managed herself and landed on feet with a sheer grace, she decided against it and smiled to her. Kelria reached over to stroke Odahviing's neck softly and patted it in thanks. "Nox hi, Odahviing"

"Hi los valokein, Dovahkiin. Nii los dii genazend wah aam hi." he bowed his enormous head in respect and received a comment of him being a flatterer from Kelria.

"Hi los ful dremsil, Odavhiing" Serana's smile went wide when both the dragon and Kelria turned to her, shocked and taken aback. She clearly enjoyed the expression on the Dragonborn's face.

"You are not bad yourself, young one" Odahviing chuckled hoarsely and leaned closer to Kelria "I think I took a liking to your friend ."

Kelria gave him a playful smack on his nose and turned back to Serana, arching her eyebrow "Don't tell me you were that bored that you have managed to learn the Dragon Language."

The woman merely sighed and shrugged "I was taught this when I was a child. People considered it was a privilege to know the ancient language."

Before Kelria could ask any question, their conversation was interrupted by a voice behind their backs. "Dragonborn." Everybody turned to the direction of the source and saw an old man in grey robes and a hood over his head as he walked closer to them. He stopped a few meters from them and bowed to the dragon "Odahviing".

"Drem Yo Lok, Arngeir." He inclined his massive head to the man, who then looked to Kelria, watching her closely.

"It is great to see you again, Dragonborn, safe and alive." the old man offered her a small smile before his eyes shifted to the woman next to her. "And I see you have brought a friend as well." He looked into her eyes, finding them deep yellow but not flinching a muscle.

"Likewise, Arngeir." Kelria looked between him and the vampire. "Her name is Serana. Serana, this is Arngeir, one of the Greybeards, my old friend." She watched as the woman tensed slightly, probably afraid of the old man's reaction, knowing that he might have already guessed about who she actually was.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, young one." He bowed to Serana and his voice became softer "A friend of the Dragonborn is our friend as well, no matter who you are." The corner of his lips twitched a little in a warm smile "You are always welcome in High Hrothgar."

Serana visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief inaudibly. She returned the smile and inclined her head slightly "It is an honour, thank you."

Arngeir then looked to the quiet Kelria and clasped his hands low in front of him. "You have come here for a reason, Dragonborn. Is there anything you seek?"

"Yes, Arngeir. I need to know about something. Something about the Elder Scrolls." she pointed at the Scroll behind Serana's back.

The man's expression remained neutral, as he sighed deeply and after a few long moments he nodded to them. "You have brought it here. Interesting. As much as I am honoured to help you, Dragonborn, there is not much I can tell you." He looked at Kelria for a moment before continuing "But you do know who might have the answers you seek." He spoke slowly, making it sound as a statement, rather than question.

Kelria nodded at him, knowing who he was referring to. "The Old One. I want to speak to him."

"Patience, Dragonborn. He is away to search for other dovah that happened to appear not far from here. I believe he will return within few days."

"Why would he search for them?" she furrowed her eyebrows slightly, tilting her head to one side.

"They were causing harm to the nearby villages. Paarthurnax could not let this continue so either he tries to persuade them or let them die with honour in a fair battle."

Kelria nodded slowly to Arngeir and he continued "You are welcome to stay here and wait, Dragonborn. You and your friends. We will aid you and give you everything you need."

She looked at Serana, questioning her and receiving a firm nod. She then turned to Odahviing. "Stay here if you wish. I would be happy if you didn't go far away from here." she gave him a warm smile.

"It is not that easy to get rid of me, Dovahkiin." he chuckled "If the Greybeards let me go to the mountain peak and wait for the Old One there, I would be honoured" he bowed his head to Arngeir.

"I am in no place to deny you, Odahviing. You may do whatever you wish." Arngeir nodded to the dragon.

" Nox hi, Arngeir." He puffed through his nostrils and looked to Kelria when she spoke in a mocking manner.

"Behave out there, big boy." she chuckled, enjoying teasing him every time she had a chance.

Odahviing looked between Kelria and Serana, and if it had been possible to see dragons smiling, they would have seen a big grin on his face. "Likewise, Dovahkiin." Before she could ask, he pushed against the ground and leapt up in the air, flapping his wings and turning to fly to the highest peak on the mountain, leaving Kelria contemplating what he meant by that.

Kelria cleared her throat, frowning at the already disappeared dragon and turned to Serana who also had a confused expression on her face. She simply shrugged at her and turned to Arngeir. "Thank you for letting us stay here, Arngeir."

The old man nodded at her and gestured them to follow him into the sanctuary. They entered through the door and made their way to the hall, lit by the candles on the walls. It was empty and rather quiet here and Arngeir answered the unasked question "It is usually the time for them to meditate. Should you feel hungry, come down here to dine in an hour. Or perhaps you might wish to eat right now?" His question was more addressed to Kelria, rather than to Serana and he nodded at them after receiving a head shake. "Very well. I will show you your quarters."

They walked up the stone stairs on the second floor and as they reached several doors in the hallway, Arngeir motioned his hand to the living quarters. "There you are. Once again, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish. Find me if you need anything." He bowed to the pair and after getting a warm response of gratitude he made his way back downstairs.

The two looked at each other and opened the door to one of the rooms. Kelria stepped in and looked around, nodding at the arrangement, it was enough for them. Two single beds, separated by a cupboard, with furs and sheets upon them, a table with a small lamp on it, a chair beside it, a small bookcase with some books and a few candles that were lighting up the room. Kelria dropped her rucksack at the foot of one of the beds, placed her sheathed sword on the cupboard and flopped herself on the furs.

"I am sooo worn out" she spoke tiredly as she put her arm over her eyes.

Serana stood uncertainly by the door, timidly looking around shifting on the spot. "I'll take the next room, I'll leave you to rest." she said quietly.

"What?" Kelria removed her arm and raised her eyebrow at the woman. "Why? I don't bite or anything" she chuckled at her, but when she saw Serana dropping her head as if she was ashamed, she mentally slapped herself for the words, wincing, and quickly got up before walking up to the woman "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. Bad choice of words, is all."

Serana looked up at her and heaved a sigh before nodding faintly "It's alright. I understand."

After a what felt like an eternity mixed with a feeling of blame, Kelria finally nodded and cleared her throat "So uhm...Come on in, don't just stay here." She returned to her bed while muttering under her breath quietly "It's getting awkward enough already anyway.". She sat down on the bed as she watched Serana doing the same opposite to her.

"So who is Paarthunax?" Serana asked her, running her hand through her own hair, adjusting it to her own liking and placed the Scroll on the cupboard.

"The Grand Master of the Greybeards. An ancient dragon. They also call him The Old One. He is the wisest dragon I've ever seen, frankly."

"Do you think he might be able to help us?"

"I'd like to think so" Kelria shrugged "Otherwise I don't know anyone who knows more than he does. He knows every secret, every mystery. So I'll keep my hope up." she nodded as she leaned back on the bed, tucking her arm under her head and looking at the ceiling.

"May I ask you something?" Serana asked a few minutes later and after getting an affirmative response she continued "Why are you helping me?"

Kelria sighed, biting her lip and sat up, looking into the vampire's eyes "Why didn't you kill me?" She tilted her head, knowing that answering a question with a question was a bit childish, but she awaited the reply nonetheless.

"I..." Serana hesitated. "I didn't even want to kill you. I was hungry, yes, but I didn't feel the urge to...feed on you." She sighed heavily "You won't understand, it's hard to explain. Forget it."

Kelria stared at her for a moment before finally answering the first question "Because I want to help you. Because I don't want your twisted father harm innocent people in Skyrim, even worse, in whole Tamriel. And maybe because I don't want you to get harmed in the process." She looked into her eyes, meeting the sad gaze back, but letting her know that there was only genuineness and sincerity in her eyes.

They fell into a complete silence, simply staring at each other. As if that was a game of who would give up first. But there was no tension. Only calmness and peace radiated from them. It felt like hours when Serana got up from her bed and walked up to Kelria, sitting down beside her and what Kelria didn't expect was that the woman would hug her. Hug her so gently as if she deserved it but she knew she didn't. She was merely helping her. She frowned slightly but returned the hug, stroking her back softly.

"Thank you" Serana whispered quietly into her ear and pulled back, reluctantly as she didn't want to get out of the warm embrace. "For trusting and helping me."

Kelria smiled at her and nodded "Anytime, Serana. We'll get through this." She watched her get up and move to the bookcase, grabbing some book and returning to her own bed. But Kelria herself felt very drowsy and leaned back on the furs. She felt really worn out and she knew that the two of them would have plenty of time to chat. But rest comes first so she let herself drift off to sleep, finally feeling at peace.

* * *

Three days had passed in an eye blink. The pair enjoyed the accommodation in High Hrothar, despite it being quite humble and a bit shabby, and despite the frosty tingling wind outside, it was very comforting and warm inside the sanctuary, as if the candles were enough to heat up the whole building on their own. Kelria and Serana had spent three days mostly in conversations, speaking about each other, about their past, just about the parts that were appropriate enough for two recently met friends to talk about. Serana was pleasantly surprised when she had returned to their room after a small tour around the sanctuary and found a few vials, containing red fresh blood on the cupboard. Kelria just smiled and said that Arngeir had been kind enough to get those. If the woman had had a living heart, it would have melt from the amiable actions of the old Greybeard. Kelria had sometimes got out of the sanctuary to train her Voice with other masters, to try and improve it. It was interesting and fascinating for Serana to watch the young Dragonborn training hard to get what she wanted even if she was failing occasionally. But the smile on her face had never faded.

It was the afternoon of the third day and Kelria was training her Whirlwind Sprint shout. She had had some flaws with this, and you could say that because she had never been keen on using it. 'I rarely use it and thus can't get it to the peak of perfection' she once said. Now she was standing in the ready position while Serana was leaning against a nearby stone post, her arms folded on her chest as she closely watched the Dragonborn with a smile. They were alone, to Kelria's relief, because she didn't want to get embarrassed in front of the Greybeards. She inhaled deeply , taking a large breath before the powerful Shout of the Dragonborn shook the ground and she leapt forward as the invisible force carried her at a marvelous speed that even Serana could have been jealous of. The woman's eyes widened when she saw Kelria didn't stop like she should have and continued to slide forward on the snow, losing her balance and smashing right into a lonely stone with the force. Kelria fell down after eliciting a painful groan and hit the ground face-first . She continued to lie there motionless, it seemed like she wasn't even breathing. A loud voice called out to her. She didn't move.

Serana felt a knot twisting in her stomach and she ran to the girl as fast as possible, feeling that she herself was trembling. She rushed to her and kneeled down before her attempting to turn Kelria around, calling her name once more but with a soft shaking voice this time. Anger and relief washed over her when saw the expression on Dragonborn's face. No, she wasn't wincing from pain. She wasn't crying. She was grinning. Serana was sure she wanted to wipe that silly grin from Kelria's face.

"You're such a bastard, Kelria" she smacked the girl's shoulder and sat back on her knees, letting out a sigh and trying to get her thoughts in order.

"Ouch!" Kelria laughed and rubbed her already bruised enough shoulder "It hurts."

"It will hurt more if you pull something like this out again" Serana gave her a fierce look but one could see that her eyes were full of concern and worry.

Kelria sat up and leaned closer to the woman "Awh, you were worried about me? This is so cute." she grinned at her when Serana stared her down.

"It so isn't. It's childish. You're impossible, Dragonborn." the woman sighed and after a few moments she gave in and offered the girl a small smile which she couldn't resist.

"You totally sound like Aela. It was an accident. And you have no idea how embarrassed I am, letting you see that I messed up so bad." Kelria chuckled and averted her gaze, reddening slightly but it was visible on her skin.

Serana hesitated a little before reaching out to take Kelria's hand in hers gently and give it a little squeeze "Be careful next time."

Kelria looked down at their hands and let out a sigh of relief before looking up at Serana and grinning "Hey, I can handle myself. I am nineteen." she paused a little before raising one finger in the air "And a half"

Serana chuckled and shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Alright. But don't get me worried then."

"What if I would like to get you worried?" Kelria smiled mischievously and cocked her head to one side, looking into Serana's eyes as if challenging her.

They fell into a silence again, staring into each other eyes. ' _She will give me a headache some day_ ', Serana thought to herself. And before she decided to answer they heard a loud roar up in the sky. They moved their heads in the direction and saw a massive dragon with spikes on its spine flying closer to the mountain and starting to circle around the Throat of the World before deciding to land on the highest peak.

The pair carefully stood up, still looking at the dragon before it disappeared behind the rocks far above, not noticing that they were still holding each other's hands. "Think it's time I should introduce you to Paarthurnax" Kelria looked at Serana, who gave her a firm nod before the two brushed the snow off their clothes and hair.

* * *

 **13 months ago, Whiterun's outskirts**.

 _Kelria fell down on a sharp stone with a groan when she stumbled upon a log, breathing heavily , her heart pumping blood at enormous speed, eyes blurred with anxiety and terror, as she was failing to regain her composure. She raised her hand to touch her temple when she felt something warm streaming down the side of her head. Not being able to calm her fast beating heart, she looked over her shoulder with her eyes wide, mentally preparing herself to death._

 _A huge dragon was landing just in front of her, roaring loudly that she thought the whole Skyrim would hear. She gripped the hilt of her sword in her sweaty palm and managed to stand up on her feet, blinded by the sharp pain. For the first time in a while she felt helpless. But at least she managed to drag the dragon out from city walls to give the guards time to prepare. At least it was a soothing thought. At least she did something right. The dragon roared at her as if in anticipation to start the battle. 'By Talos, dragons are supposed to fight fair', she thought to herself, looking into the dragon's furious eyes. There was no time to muse upon whether it is fair or not. This damn creature was going to kill her and extra talks about how to fight properly would be of no help. She slowly pointed her sword at him, shaking but trying not to fall down again._

 _"Gahvon, Dovahkiin!" the dragon roared almost in her face, that she felt her hair was blown by the force of the wind._

 _She wasn't going to give up. Not until her dying moment._

 _Without waiting for the response the dragon roared once more and in a split second a loud Shout of "YOL-TOOR-SHUL" got out of his jaws, sending a big wave of flames in Kelria's direction. She thought it was the end of her, but not letting her mind shut down just yet she dropped the sword and quickly held out her hands in front of her, muttering a spell under her breath and a magic force shield appeared around her, protecting from the fire that was aiming her way. She was too weak in magic. Especially now that she was ready to collapse on the ground. She cried out in despair, trying to hold back the endless flow of the flames and heated air that were encircling her, trying to make a breach in her defense, to swallow her in red and yellow mouth. She was growing weaker. She couldn't go on. She would die and let it be. She was too young, she didn't complete her mission, her prophecy. And there she was, dying in the middle of the forest by a hand of a dragon. She couldn't stand on her feet anymore, tears and pain and anguish blinded her eyes, all of this made her fall to her knees, and with what little strength she had she forced herself to keep the shield wall up, but it slowly was fading away._

 _In a moment she heard a painful roar. Everything stopped. The world around her, the sounds, everything just faded. Her eyes were closed, tears rolled down her cheeks. For a moment she thought she was in the Void, surrounded by nothing, isolated. After a few moments Kelria felt a throbbing pain in her head. Pain. No, she wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead. She felt it._

 _Another roar returned her back to reality. Suddenly voices filled her ears. She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself still sitting on her knees, the grass in front of her was soaked with blood that dripped from her temple. She weakly lifted her head up and through the blur in her eyes she saw several people fighting a dragon. That dragon. His scaled skin was penetrated by arrows, blood was flowing out from multiple deep cuts that the people were leaving with their weapons. A gray silhouette was amongst them, moving fast and pouncing on the dragon. Kelria winced in pain and tried to get up on her feet, shaking violently and trembling. After a few seconds she finally stood up, though with her body bending in pain and when she heard one last loud roar, the one that dragons let out when they are struck with a deathly blow, the dragon crashed onto the ground, smashing trees down in the process. He gave a pain-filled puff and fell silent. And motionless._

 _Kelria let out a sigh of relief. It was over. But then the dragon's flesh started to glow brighter than the fire. It started to burn as if the sun was merely a few feet away from him. Sparkles and the burned skin started to float in the air. What struck the other people most was that some kind of force was flowing out of the dragon's body, and like a wind it swirled around Kelria, enwrapping her form. She felt the soul of the dragon entering her body, giving her memories and essence of the creature. She let out a gasp. It was too much for her. She couldn't contain such energy while being so weak. It only made her worn out and she fell down on her knees in front of the bony skeleton that was left from the massive dragon. Kelria felt dizzy. The world around her was just spinning around and she felt sick. She was about to pass out but not before she managed to look through the blur at the people. Two muscular men, dark-haired, who looked very alike, a red-haired woman with a bow in her hands who was rushing towards her, and a wolf that was pacing around. Just on its hind legs. What? It was even three times bigger than most of the wolves she had seen. She thought she was going insane. She closed her eyes and completely collapsed on the grass, the last thing she heard was a soft yet commanding female voice near her "Farkas, get her to Jorrvaskr. Now." And then everything went black._

* * *

"Drem Yol Lok, Dovahkiin" an ancient dragon, spiked all over his skin with the bones standing out in it, bowed his head respectfully when Kelria helped Serana to climb the last edge to the mountain peak and they both made their way to the two dragons standing on the snowy surface. One could barely see what was far below under the mountain due to the clouds around them covering the view like a fog.

"Drem Yol Lok, Paarthurnax" Kelria answered in the same respectful manner and nodded at Odahviing, who stood next to him, with a smile.

The ancient dragon slowly turned his spiky head to look at the woman next to the Dragonborn and greeted her in the same way, receiving the greeting back in a fluent Dragon Language.

"Have you come here for a reason, Dovahkiin?" Paarthurnax turned back to Kelria.

"I have, the Old One. I need to ask you about the Elder Scrolls. Have you heard of them?"

The dragon looked into her eyes thoroughly and replied gravely "Give me a name of a joor who has never heard of such artifact. This is a peculiar question to ask me, Dovahkiin."

"Forgive me. I have to find the way to read them." Kelria looked at the dragon with hope in her eyes. "I have one of the Scrolls with me."

Paarthurnax shifted on his paws and puffed, eliciting a smoke from his nostrils before speaking hoarsely "Taking a slightest glance at the contents of the Elder Scrolls comes with a price, young one. And only gifted are capable of reading it. The outcome has always been the same."

Kelria looked at Serana and then back to Paarthunax "What price?"

"Once you have read an Elder Scroll, it will be the last thing you ever read." The dragon spoke slowly.

"What do you mean? Is the price death?" Kelria asked him, arching her eyebrows.

"For some gifted death is better than this, goraan gein. You will never see the world around you. It will be a sheer, complete darkness. Some become demented from the inability of their vision."

"They go blind..." Kelria realized quietly. She looked to Serana for help, not knowing how to go on before the dragon continued.

"Geh, Dovahkiin. There are gifted amongst the priests of the Order of the Ancestor Moths. They are the ones who might aid you in your task. There is nothing I can do anymore, Dovahkiin, as everything else relies on you."

"Where can we find those priests?" Serana asked quietly.

"That you should find out on your own, goraan gein." the dragon answered.

"Right..." Kelria sighed, knowing that persuading the Old One is going to be in vain. She turned to Serana "At least we have something."

"It's not enough." Serana shook her head "We can't just go wandering around Tamriel, searching for people who might not even want to help us."

"We got no other choice. At least we need to find those who know about the priests. I don't know...Perhaps in taverns or somewhere else, maybe we'll find some rumors." Kelria was nervously sorting out ideas in her head, trying to think of the best solution.

A few moments of silence passed when Serana wordlessly nodded at her, though her hope wasn't as strong as before. Kelria turned to the old dragon "Nox hi, Paarthurnax."

"Safe passage to you and your friend, Dovahkiin" He bowed his head to the three of them and leapt up in the air in a moment, fluttering his bony and spiky wings before he disappeared in the clouds.

Kelria and Serana watched him leave and then turned to Odahviing. "I need you to stay here, Odahviing. We're going to leave the Elder Scroll with the Greybeards and I don't want anyone to try and climb up here to High Hrothgar for the Scroll. Guard it. Will you do that for me?" Kelria asked him.

The dragon nodded his massive head in respect "Geh, Dovahkiin. Do not worry, I will guard it with my life."

"I appreciate it. But if I summon you, you need to leave the place as soon as you can and come to me."

"I am older than you are, Dovahkiin, but I am not simple-minded. Your wish is my command"

Kelria smirked "Good. Thank you again. I hope we'll see each other soon enough." She turned to Serana and took her hand "Are you ready for the adventure to search for the unknown?"

Serana squeezed her hand gently and nodded "If it's worth it, I'm ready for anything."

The two finally bided farewell to Odahviing and started to climb down to High Hrothgar to prepare for the trip.

' _Something tells me it won't be that easy... Why can't just everything be simple?_ ' Kelria shook off her thoughts and focused on what they were going to do next.

* * *

 **Some translation from the Dragon Language:**

 ** _Nox hi_ \- Thank you.**  
 ** _Hi los valokein_ \- You are welcome.**  
 ** _Nii los dii genazend wah aam hi_ \- It is a pleasure to serve you.**  
 ** _Hi los ful dremsil_ \- You are so nice. **  
**_Gahvon_ \- Yield**  
 ** _Joor_ \- Mortal**  
 ** _Goraan gein_ \- Young one**

 **Please leave comments and reviews, I really want to hear what you think of the story so far! I really need to know what flaws I have or what I'm good at or what I need to work on! Any ideas are welcome, just message me! :) Thank you for the alerts, everyone! :)**  
 **Also, check out my good friend's novel based on 'Knights of the Old Republic 'video-game** **s/6847352/1/Star-Wars-Aspyre-To-More**  
 **She's an amazing talented writer, you won't regret it! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm going to spare you the efforts of throwing rotten tomatoes at me, as I pretty much hated myself every single day for abandoning the story for 1,5 years. It does pain me to have let you down guys, because you put trust in me and my work and followed the Story and I blunty didn't meet your expectations, for which I am greatly and deeply sorry.**  
 **It has been tough 1,5 years for me, but I truly hope that I am back on track and I will try to update more often than once a year :)**

 **I will definitely be flattered if I get feedback for my work because I can't know for sure if you readers like the stuff I write, which makes me really confused and sometimes anxious. Any critique is more than welcome, for it is the only way to improve the writing ! :)**

 **You, readers, are what makes stories, not just mine, going. So I'd like to establish connection between you and me and figure out what you guys want/don't want to see, so that you fully enjoy the Story. Thank you :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Kelria shot up suddenly from her bedroll, feeling her hand tightly holding on to something cold yet familiar soft. Her eyes opened wide but she couldn't see anything in front of her, for only the terror images were still flooding her vision, horror crawling up inside of her and out, sending shivers down her spine as she could barely catch her breath. A gentle, full of worry voice called out to her that made the figment of her imagination instantly erase from her mind, once again giving way to return Kelria back to reality. She blinked a few times, making sure she saw what she saw. Her hand still clenching on...something. She looked down at her hand and when she saw her own grip on Serana's wrist, she immediately released it with the swiftness as if she got burned, and looked apologetically to the woman.

Failing to comprehend what was going on in Kelria's mind, Serana rubbed her wrist absent-mindedly as she sat on her knees near the bedroll, looking with concern at the girl.

"Care to talk it out?" she asked softly, resisting the urge to get herself closer to Kelria.

The Dragonborn shifted her gaze from Serana to the horizon almost completely covered by trees, but the rising sun was slowly starting to light the forest up with its flame-like glow. It looked like her mind wandered everywhere but in reality. She felt a soft touch on her arm before quickly pulling it back with a firm utterance "Fuck no."

She quickly got up and took a deep breath as the other woman followed her action and stood as well with a confused expression on her face.

"Kelria?" she heard Serana ask worriedly.

Kelria ran her fingers through her hair, ignoring the vampire. "Think we should go to Ivarstead. Half a day from here on foot, if not interrupted." She spoke with no emotion in her voice as if nothing happened a few minutes ago. She walked up to her rucksack, poking around in it and taking out a map. She looked at the bottom of it and her eyes stopped on the word Riften. It was dangerous. Not only did vampires wandered around the Hold but also the Dawnguard were being stupid heroes to fall into traps. In the name of Akatosh, how had the vampires managed this far into Skyrim?

' _I wonder what Isran would say about Serana...'_ she thought to herself as she stood silently, pondering. Riften had always been a good place for rumours. But she couldn't risk the vampire's life. If not it, then Windhelm would be the next stop. And then going west... And then Divines know where. Being in complete ignorance irritated her, they didn't even know what or who to look for. She let out a huffed sigh and threw the map into the bag with a little too much force. A great start of the day.

Serana raised her eyebrow at Kelria but continued to stand in silence ,waiting for the next move.

"Have to make it quick to the town." Kelria said blankly and started to pack their things for the trip.

* * *

They had been walking for four hours straight, staying away from any roads, in complete silence. None of them had said a word and they kept on walking and walking with tension between them building up gradually.

Just when Serana decided to break the silence, she felt Kelria halt abruptly and move her arm in front of the vampire to motion for her to stop as well.

Kelria scanned the area with her eyes, feeling hair on the back of her neck rising as a sign of danger presence nearby. She gripped the hilt of her sword tightly and listened closely to any sound. Quiet. Even too quiet. She could feel her own heart beating and nothing else. Merely five seconds passed when she heard a whistling sound of something flying in the air followed by a thud of the arrow piercing the tree trunk a few centimeters to her right. Fuck.

Kelria turned around with her sword drawn and saw a group of six soldiers, clad in Stormcloak garments ,coming closer to them with their weapons on the show. Kelria gritted her teeth as one of the Stormcloacks came in the hearing range.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she snapped at whoever looked like a captain.

"The next arrow will be right in your forehead", the captain with quite an obnoxious face dared to speak, "Have you been living with pigs on a farm or you think the orders of the future High King don't apply to you?"

Kelria felt Serana tense beside her as she eyed every one of the soldiers before setting her gaze back on the captain. "Tell me what these orders are and I might not have your head given to a dragon as a play ball."

"Aren't you the cockiest here, milk drinker? Every petty cattle like you are to stay in towns and villages for these bloodsuckers are running around the lands and making everyone shit their pants. You want an easier death? Be my guest, I'm standing here. Here's my sword waiting to cut your head off." The man beckoned Kelria over with his sword.

She let out an amused but irritated chuckle. "You know, you're funny. Did your mother drop you head-first onto the floor in childhood? Because if not, it will be my pleasure to give you a well-deserved trauma."

The captain's smirk and complacent look turned into a disparaging glare with which he blessed Kelria. With a tightening grip on his sword he turned to his fellow soldiers and barked. "Get them."

Kelria glanced at the vampire by her side and nodded at her with a silent permission. She turned towards the first soldier that was coming closer to her threatening with his sword , and without any hesitation she lifted her weapon for a downward strike, but quickly switched the direction and it resulted in cutting the Stormcloak's leg, spilling blood on her sword, which made him fall down with a painful yelp.

She quickly sent Serana a cautious glance but the fact that she was quite alright on her own and her daggers were penetrating the Stormcloak's chest without any mercy reassured Kelria.

She scarcely stumbled upon a small stone when the two other soldiers emerged in her sight and surrounded her from the both sides. She quickly regained her composure and after blocking the strike of one man she kicked him in his guts so hard that it sent him falling over on the ground, while the other was already bringing his sword down on her shoulder.

She wouldn't have had time to block the strike but the man stopped abruptly with his weapon mid-air, a few inches away from Kelria's arm. His eyes went wide in fear and she could see the tip of a dagger emerging from his stomach, all bloody and menacing. He looked down at the object that was literally inside him and as soon as the dagger disappeared, he dropped himself on the ground, never rising again.

"Try and watch your back next time."

Kelria looked with the smirk at the speaking woman who was kneeling down to wipe one dagger off the filthy Stormcloak's clothes and bringing the other weapon to her lips, gently tracing the tip of her tongue over the blood-covered dagger. There was something captivating in such motion, something alluring, something enchanting and Kelria, no matter how hard she tried, couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I could have handled it."

"Petty liar." Serana chuckled softly, rising to her feet, but her voice was cut off by a sudden shout from behind.

"The High King will have you executed! "

Kelria slowly neared the Captain who was lying on the ground and whining like an injured dog - though he was injured indeed, a stream of blood was dripping from his forearm and hip.

"Tell your 'King' he can go fuck himself. And you better do it fast. If I ever see you again... Well, remember my warning about a dragon's toy."

Serana merely raised her eyebrow at the threat, but the Dragonborn watched the man collecting himself and running away as if his tail was set on fire. She reflected on the thought and found it slightly amusing - to watch the Stormcloak running away if he was actually on fire. Giggling inside her mind, she only let a small smirk depict her inner thoughts and when she turned to the brunette vampire, she simply shrugged her shoulder, with an innocent look. "What?"

* * *

They made it to Vilemyr Inn in Ivarstead by the afternoon, when the sun was high above their heads and its rays were poking through thick tree branches. It was arguable whether to proceed on their path or stay at the Inn and continue to Riften in the evening. Kelria was too worn out, since the very awakening in the morning, but Serana didn't press it, fortunately.

They found a dark corner in the tavern, both lowering their gaze so that they wouldn't be recognized, as well as exchanging few words with a waitress when they ordered only two goblets of mead.

The Inn itself was half-empty. There were mostly the pilgrims who stopped by for a rest and then would continue to High Hrothgar to ascend the Ten Thousands Steps. Kelria shivered at the memory of her climbing up to that monastery for the first time - it had been challenging as hell and she had thought she would die and even hoped she would die with a reassurance that death would deprive her of necessity of climbing further. Luckily now she had Odahviing for that - it was his job now whether he liked it or not.

"How are you even drinking that?" Kelria quirked her eyebrow in disbelief when she watched Serana taking a sip of the mead.

The vampire stopped mid-way in the process of devouring the drink and simply shrugged. "It doesn't have any taste to me. Say, the analogy would be like a water to you. Although I sense it, especially when it's in someone's blood I'm drinking."

Kelria snorted and shook her head, taking a little sip from her own goblet as she let her eyes wander around the Inn - she shouldn't have done it. Meeting the gaze of a blond woman standing along with a red-haired man she quickly dropped her head and cleared her throat "Well, shit."

"Look ,who's here, eh!" The two strode over to the corner where Kelria and Serana were sitting. The woman laughed light-heartedly. "Good to see you in one piece, Dragonborn."

Kelria pursed her lips for a moment and slowly looked up, giving the blonde a pretentiously sweet smile. "Hey, Vex. Hey, Brynjolf. We were already lea-.."

"Oh, no, no, no. You're not leaving till I have a _really_ needed word with you, K." Vex spoke in a flirtatious manner, exchanging glances with Brynjolf who was the only one eyeing Serana curiously.

Kelria bit her own lower lip in contemplation. Perhaps they wouldn't have to go to Riften if Vex and Brynjolf knew a rumor or two anyway. She hoped that at least one of them would be of some help, otherwise she would just waste time in vain.

She glanced at Serana, who was fiercely glaring at Brynjolf, as it was visible that there was some kind of shadow of fear slipping by in his eyes. Kelria got tugged at, with a little too much force, by Vex and as she was passing by Brynjolf she huskily whispered to him "Don't even try.", receiving a confused look in return.

"Where are we going? Can't we just talk here?" Vex apparently wasn't listening to Kelria's words, because she tugged the girl across the whole tavern and wordlessly shoved a few coins into the barkeep's pocket, which made Kelria tense at once.

Vex opened the door to the back of the Inn, carrying the Dragonborn along with her. Kelria tried to break her arm out of the woman's grip, but the latter only tightened it and proceeded to descend the stairs to the cellar.

"Vex... Let me go, there is an important matter to-"

"Oh, there is certainly something important we have to do, K." She smirked, shutting the door behind them with a loud bang, and swiftly pinned Kelria to the nearest wall by the arms tightly, pressing her lips hungrily against the ones of Dragonborn, giving the latter no chance to respond.

Kelria groaned into the forceful kiss, struggling to break free from the weight her body was pressed with to the wall. Managing to release her right arm she attempted to shove Vex hard away from her, but the strength was only enough for them to part from the kiss, their lips an inch away from one another but even that was enough to give Kelria some room to breathe.

She gritted her teeth, pressing her hand hard against Vex's shoulder to keep the other away from her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, come on, honey. I've been waiting for this since the day you left me." Kelria felt the woman's hips trap her completely with no possibility to escape. The hand started to trace along her collarbone, the fingertips pressing intimately into the sternum and trailing down to her chest and then lower and lower and...

Kelria caught the woman's wandering hand abruptly.

"Stop it, Vex. There was nothing between us, ever." There was nothing she could do against Vex, who had her body pressed against her own so tight. They were so close to each other that she thought that no fly could squeeze between them.

"Now you're lying to yourself, Kelria. Tsk, tsk. How impertinent of you." Vex gave her a wolfish grin and twisted her own hand to grab Kelria's instead, now raising both of the girl's arms so that both wrists were above Kelria's head, pinned tightly. She leaned slowly to the Dragonborn's ear, seductively whispering. "We both know that I can give you more than that redhead bitch."

"Don't call Aela that. You and me - it was only one time and-"

"And you liked it, didn't you? You came to me crying about that whore with nowhere to go. I gave you what your heart and body desired, K. Now you're being ungrateful, don't you think?" Vex smirked and after that Kelria felt warm lips envelope her earlobe, with teeth grazing over the sensitive skin. She groaned in response, her body tensed as the mere gesture aroused every nerve inside. It was clear that both she and the other woman were excited but it didn't help the situation.

"I love her, and you are the only whore here, Vex."

Vex chuckled bitterly and after lowering her right hand, resulting in pinning both Kelria's arms with only her left, she slowly let it wander down the girl's stomach and then below her belt, in the end pressing it against the front of Kelria's trousers. "You're acting so childish, Kelria. I like it. But that mouth of yours is so full of lies. I liked it better when it was somewhere else. What makes you think I'm a whore?"

Kelria bit her lower lip both in indignation and, as much as she hated to admit it, an iota of pleasure, when she felt the woman's hand gliding over her sensitive spot. Vex was insufferable, but she couldn't deny that the excitement was palpable. "Should I ask Brynjolf on that matter then?"

Vex was acting like an animal, with instincts coming to life when spotting a danger. She quickly removed her hand and gripped Kelria's chin tightly. "Don't you dare tell him. That idiot doesn't have to know a thing about all of that."

"I'll be sure to send him your exact words."

"Playing with fire, K." Vex narrowed her eyes at the girl, conveying both threat and a not yet subsided passion.

"Then let me go, otherwise we'll both burn in that fire."

As soon as Kelria felt Vex's grip loosening , she swiflty shoved the other woman away from her with force, issuing it with a slap of her palm against Vex's cheek when the blonde almost stumbled from the push.

Such action only triggered Vex's instincts and with a growl she quickly recovered and raised her fist in order to break Kelria's resistance inside and out. The punches were coming right at the Dragonborn's face and stomach repeatedly, but they were easily dodged. Kelria didn't know if so weak an attack was actually on purpose; she wasn't trying that hard and Vex's attempts at even touching Kelria were all futile. It was clear that neither women wanted to hurt each other in earnest, but the whole fight was put to a stop when Kelria finally drew a sword in an eye blink and the its tip pointed at Vex's chest.

"Vex, stop." Kelria's eyes were expressively fixed on the ones of the other woman, plainly denoting her disinterest in fighting; and even though Vex tried to move forward, she was involuntarily stopped by the tip of the sword touching her sternum .

"You wouldn't hurt me, now would you, K? Come on ... Why can't two old friends have a little fun?"

"I genuinely have no interest in having 'fun' with you, Vex. Don't be a pain in the arse, I have too much shit in my life already. Now can I remove the sword without you trying to throw yourself at me like a dog?"

In a response to the question, Vex only rolled her eyes and waved it off which therefore let Kelria deeply inhale and exhale, calming herself down, and guardedly sheath the sword.

"Look, Vex. Let's talk like two civil people and no one gets hurt. And by that I mean you won't get hurt."

"Funny. Always so confident, so self-complacent, just the way I remember you. Spill the fuck out of it, already."

Kelria pursed her lips for a moment, her arms folding on her chest and her ocean-blue eyes strongly fixated on Vex's.  
"What do you know of Dawnguard?"

"Dawnguard? Those pretentious saviours of the world?"

"Vex..."

"What the hell do you expect from me? I'm not one of them, how would I know?" After these words from Vex, Kelria couldn't help but drop her gaze in contemplation, almost sad that she had not even small a help...even from someone like Vex.

"Although, wait a second... I've actually heard rumours of one Dawnguard group scurrying around some Crypt near Dawnstar. Yeah, they were all killed by vampires. Tough shit. Apparently they wanted to find something of interest there, and it was like a vampire nest. Nobody heard of that group ever since. At any rate, I suggest you just go to Riften, these Dawnguard guys multiply like ... you know ... Dawnguard. You might as well pay a visit to our Guild, they all for sure hate you for leaving, I mean you love it when people hate you when you leave them, don't you? "

"Vex, I-"

"Or I'd rather you stay with me and-"

"Vex..."

"Fine, whatever."

"Is this all you know about Dawnguard?"

"I've never had any interest in learning more about them. If they happen to be a nuisance, then consider them fucking dead. We, as a Guild, will take care of them, worry not."

"That's not what I-"

"As for the vampires, they don't touch Riften - I don't give a shit about them."

"Lovely."

"Why are you even so concerned about it?"

"Doesn't matter. Anything about the Order of the Ancestor Moth by any chance?"

"Do I look like a walking library?"

"Vex, this is important!"

Vex sighed for a moment, plainly growing weary of the conversation, but responded nonetheless. "I only heard stories about that Order. I don't have to explain you what they actually did, back in the days, now do I?"

"Back in the days?"

"I've only heard that it is no more. Nothing else I can tell you. Never met their priests myself, so this is where my knowledge of it comes to an end."

"Have you heard of anyone somehow connected to the Order?"

"No. But you might as well try and find answers in libraries, or do you not know how to read?"

"Not helping, Vex. Could it be that there are no such priests in Skyrim?"

"Could be. You do know, that the Temple is in Cyrodiil, right?"

"Cyrodiil?"

"Rumour has it the Temple lies in ruins."

"Who would do such a thing?"

"Kelria, will you stop asking me such questions? I can't know answers for everything you're asking, for gods' sake."

Kelria seemed immersed in her thoughts for a few moments. What she had learned now, it was more than enough. They must find the Temple and go to Cyrodiil. And then her thought trailed to Serana. The vampires could track them down all the way to Cyrodiil and Serana's father would get what he wanted at last. There was no way she could let that happen.

Vex cleared her throat to get some attention.

"You okay there?"

"Right. Let's get out of here."

"You sure? We still have some time-"

"I'm leaving."

Vex only huffed in response and reluctantly followed after Kelria out of the cellar, something in her posture denoted her struggle not to throw herself at the girl in front of her, but she remained silent and only clenched her jaw.

"Where's Brynjolf?" was the first question Kelria asked Serana who was still seated on the same spot and apparently hadn't even moved, or at least Kelria hoped so.

Serana quirked her eyebrow at the two women nearing the table, the two of them looked around with a frown on both faces, but then suddenly smirked and shrugged it off.

"I don't know, he didn't like my company. Hopefully."

Kelria barely managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes which was then instead done by Vex, who with a husky "I'll go find him." left them, not without casting a strange look at Serana, and, upon failing to find Brynjolf inside the tavern, went outside, disappearing out of sight.

Kelria then sat down next to Serana and cocked her head at the woman with her eyes implying a question; and so she did get her answer, in the form of another smirk and a shrug.

"Right..."

"You're looking strange. You both were. What happened there?" Serana was almost inspecting Kelria's face, which had some reddened hue in some places.

"Just a friendly chat, don't worry about it." Kelria simply shrugged it off, and hid her face in a long-forgotten goblet of mead. Fortunately, the other woman didn't press the issue further and only sent some worried glances to her companion from time to time while the blue-eyed woman told her everything she had learned from Vex.

Then she fell silent, trying to conjure words regarding an idea of hers. After a few moments of pondering, Kelria finally let her voice ring again in the small space between the two women. "We should move out now. We will go to Riften. We will search for help from the Dawnguard and-"

"Kelria, are you insane?!" Serana tried to quiet down her voice so as to not cause a scene, but they both did get a few strange glances of the patrons nearby and therefore lowered their voices to a whisper.

"They are _not_ going-"

"They _are_ going to kill me. And furthermore, they will make an example out of me, or better yet, a dummy!"

"Serana...Hear me out..."

"No, Kelria, don't ask me if I trust you again, because this is the case when I'm hardly going to trust you."

"We need as many allies as possible, and if there is a chance to bring Dawnguard to our side, I will take it."

"At my expense?"

"Serana, just... just stop...I will not let anyone hurt you. I want to help you, and I will find any means possible to do that. We and Dawnguard have the same goal, that is a valid reason for them to help us. If it doesn't turn out as I expect ... I will deal with... with anyone who gets in our way."

After these words, it was visible that Serana's posture got slightly relieved and she turned her head away to reflect on the idea she disliked with all her... dead heart. She slowly shook her head, mostly to herself than to the other woman, before her eyes finally met Kelria's.

"You _are_ insane." Serana's voice didn't however sound judgemental, it was more gentle and tender and yet full of concern.

"I know... Would you blame me for that?" Kelria forced a small smile for the first time in a while and smiled even wider when the vampire did the same. She felt a cool yet soft hand covering her own, her body slightly flinching at the touch as it sent small tingles through her skin. Most likely for both of them, for Serana looked down at their hands with a meaningful gaze before raising her amber eyes to look into the ocean-blue ones.

"And what if something happens to you? They will accuse you of treachery and-..."

"And you will stand up for me and feed on them, obviously." Kelria almost grinned at Serana, but found the woman staring daggers at her and removing her hand to Kelria's regret."No? Okay, bad idea. Let's go."

"What? Now? Kelria, I see the exhaustion in your eyes, you have to have some respite or, better yet, sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead. Come on."

"Aren't you funny, you idiot." Serana narrowed her eyes at the laughing woman and stood up, following the Dragonborn out of the Inn.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews and your lovely words.  
** **Hope you enjoy the chapter :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Darkness fell upon Solitude and the outskirts. What little light the Moon had bestowed on the city was now gone, as dark, menacing clouds obscured the celestial body. One could claim that the city looked more magnificent when the streets were lit with torches and small lanterns, more majestic as it stood on the cliff of a gigantic rock and served as a lighthouse for all who was lost in the debris of the dark forests and in the plain fields, but some people knew that the shine of the Moon was something that made Solitude look ominous.

No one could mistake this city for any other. It was one of a kind. Like a solid stronghold towering over the cliff. While underneath it, near the huge hill or in the water, you could almost break a neck when looking up at the city – such an unbelievable height that it looked as if it was aspiring to reach the stars.

Aela let out a deep sigh, causing Lydia to look at her. Casting one glance at the walls above and adjusting her bow on her back, the red-haired Companion ordered her chestnut-coloured horse to ascend the hill in a trot and the Housecarl followed the lead on her grulla mare. They had hardly spoken a word in their five-days-long travel from Whiterun to Solitude; the Werewolf was quite certain that the only connection both of them shared was the one they had for the Dragonborn. For one she was a lover, for the other she was a Thane. It was not quite definite whose bond was stronger. It would be a sin to say that Lydia's loyalty to Kelria possessed any flaws. That loyalty was as clear as a crystal.

The warrior's faithfulness had never ceded to the relation between Aela and the Dragonborn. For the both women Kelria was a priority, no matter how their approach to fulfilling their duties differed from one another. And the promise Lydia had given was to be retained even if her life depended on it.

It was not as straightforward a duty for Aela as it was for Lydia. She could deny it all she wished, but deep in her heart there was jealousy. Jealousy for the Housecarl, jealousy for that bloodsucker, jealousy for everyone Kelria had close relation with. And it had always been conveyed with spite - to everyone, except for Lydia. She knew how her partner treasured her best friend and did not dare to get in the way of their friendship. But the envious feeling was still present, no matter how assiduously she tried to suppress it within herself.

There was no way she could let Kelria slip away from the bond they had. Not even Sovngarde would be able to cut the strings. No, she would never let anyone intrude their relationship and if anyone or anything dared to, she would without hesitation send them all to the Void, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Gripping the reins tightly, she let the thought settle in the back of her mind and increased the haste.

It was not a total darkness, for a few guards were patrolling the outskirts with their torches lit, and the light radiating from the flames made the trees cast vague shadows on both sides of the road, which made the path seem even more threatening.

Not that it frightened the fearless Huntress. They passed through the Gates without any protest or question from the Guards – for who did not know the Harbinger of The Companions? Aela had, in fact, put on her war paint and now it left little to no doubt that people would recognize her.

After suppressing a small bit of pride for this fact, she led the horse through the winding streets of Solitude with Lydia following right beside her. Hardly any citizens were present outside the houses, except for the guards walking through the city with a duty of protecting its people.

"At this time of war, and with all these vampire attacks – such a small garrison" was Aela's thought expressed aloud when she saw that there was not actually enough of militia in the city.

"I can only suppose the war exhaustion has taken its toll." Lydia calmly uttered the response, glancing at Aela.

No more word had been spoken until they arrived to their destination.

Aela looked at Proudspire Manor with an observing gaze. It was of considerable size, no doubt quite expensive either. It used to be Kelria's house long time ago, even before defeating Alduin. Actually, it still was. And she wondered if it was actually taken care of, for no one else was allowed to live in the house as it rightfully belonged to the Dragonborn. The latter never actually wished to live in such an expensive house. No, all these complimentary rewards granted to her by the Jarl were all reluctantly accepted, mostly out of respect than for her own need.

After both of them dismounting and retrieving a key from a small bag near the horse saddle, Lydia quickly inserted it in the lock and with a swift, twisting motion the door opened without any resistance.

"Jarl Elisif has kept her promise, it would seem." said Lydia when they stepped into the house and moved up the stairs. Both women had actually expected the house to be forsaken and the furniture to be all dusted if not absent. But everything had stayed as it was when Lydia was last here with her Thane, perhaps even tidier and fresher.

It was a gigantic house, that was for certain. Aela was now sure that it didn't quite fit Kelria. After exploring the majority of the first floor with a surveying gaze, she slowly stepped into the kitchen where Lydia was seated, and strolled closer to a nearby shelf, extending her hand and gliding it over the shabby covers of the books. Since this was Kelria's house, the owner must have read some of the books presented in the bookcases. Everyone who knew the Dragonborn close enough, was aware of her love for books. And as peculiar as it might seem, she was scarcely ever interested in history tomes. Novels, writings regarding one skill or another such as guides to swordsmanship or rules of persuasion -yes, that was her passion. In spite of Aela's numerous attempts to make her venture through the history of Tamriel, let alone the history of the Companions, Kelria always disregarded them with a dismissive gesture of her hand and a simple 'Some day'.

' _It is important, Dragonborn_.' Aela would say. ' _You are shaming your kin, your predecessors_.'

And Kelria would shake her head and in return her words would be ' _If I knew that it would help me in vanquishing Alduin, I would take this damn history up right away._ '

The Huntress let a small smile form on her face for a moment before it faded away as quickly as it had appeared. ' _You will get there_ ', she thought, ' _even if I have to kick your ass._ '

She was completely immersed in her thoughts to the point she hadn't even heard Lydia's comment and therefore was called out again. She turned to the speaking Housecarl who had already seated herself on a chair in the center of the room, with her legs crossed over one another and arms folded on her chest. Her expressive emerald eyes were fixated on Aela and her eyebrows twitched in a small frown.

"So? Do we wait till the morning?" she repeated the question.

"General Tullius might not be asleep yet, but I highly doubt you would dare to wake Elisif at this time of the night." Aela turned away and calmly walked up to her wooden bow that she had placed on another chair. Retrieving a small stick of wax from her bag, she sat herself down in a reclining pose, mimicking Lydia's crossed legs, and laid the heavy bow on her knee, the string facing outwards.

"This city is in danger, even more so than the rest of Skyrim, and we're supposed to wait until these blood-drinking beasts knock on the door?" Lydia narrowed her eyes at the Huntress, the voice insinuating a light frustration.

Aela ceased the process of running the wax stick over the bow string and stared at the Housecarl with an impassive visage on her face.

"We need to establish a solid connection with Elisif. Even such a minor detail could be substantial. Everyone knows perfectly well that she relies on Tullius and her steward almost completely. If they express a significant indignation towards us, we will have to be on our own."

"She trusts you. The Dragonborn said it herself."

"She does, but I don't trust the General. There is something about him that puts me to unease." Aela resumed taking care of her bow with a honed, fine technique, her flawless motion of her hands denoted years and years of experience.

Lydia fell silent for a brief moment as she watched Aela, her finger scratching her chin in contemplation.

"You're implying that he is unreliable." concluded the Housecarl.

"Elisif grants him too much power, he has a considerable amount of influence on the politics and war."

"Maybe the reason is that she couldn't find anyone as noteworthy as him to be by her side. How can you blame her?"

"I am not blaming her. She is too young for even thinking about becoming the High Queen and she doesn't know enough about the dangers her title can bring. General Tullius is known well throughout the Skyrim… and, believe it or not, I feel there is a seed of desire for more power within him."

Lydia replied with a knit of her eyebrows but remained tranquil and let the redhead continue.

"I spent enough time in the Blue Palace and observed Elisif and her subordinates and from all the people only Tullius left me unsettled. He wants to win the war more than Elisif does, which does give a strange impression. I can only assume he wants to earn the respect of other Jarls." Aela halted her speech for a few instants, giving Lydia time to absorb all the implications.

"Before the war is won, he wouldn't dare to harm Elisif, Aela."

"He wouldn't, for obvious reason. I will need more time to watch his intentions closely. We can't interfere with his goal of destroying Ulfric; winning the war and keeping Elisif alive is a priority at this time. Well, taking into the account the vampire raids, for sure."

Aela finally finished polishing her precious bow and propped it gently against the table before tucking the wax stick back into the bag.

"Well, since we are on this topic, have you tried talking sense into Kelria, concerning the war?"

Lydia saw how Aela's gray-blue eyes changed the expression from impassiveness to a slight hesitation and the woman stood up abruptly, shaking her head. The redhead drew a small dagger from the sheath on her belt and started twirling it in her hands while relentlessly pacing from the bookshelves to the fireplace.

"She didn't want to listen to me at all. Stupid Dragonborn." Aela gritted her teeth. In truth, she didn't really mean it. At times, or, well, most of the time the Dragonborn's actions filled her with irritation which always kept her on her toes. "If she sides with that filthy Ulfric... Skyrim will be no more. It will be the end of the world and we will all wish the vampires had murdered us."

"I believe she never said anything about joining the Stormcloaks, Aela..." the Housecarl's voice, in contrary to Aela's, sounded calm and serene.

"Her lack of action is even worse! She would rather let the whole Skyrim drown in its own blood, than help people escape the massacre!"

It was pointless for Lydia to try and calm Aela down and she had learned it in a way she wished she had not. No one was capable of restraining the Companion's anger. Except for Kelria. She was the only one that had such strong influence on the ever-impulsive redhead and if Aela lost the Dragonborn … _that_ would be the end of the world, not 'High King' Ulfric.

Seconds passed and luckily, Lydia's silence made at least a minor positive impact on the Huntress's impetuous manner. She watched the woman gripping the hilt of the dagger tightly and then loosening the hold.

"No matter. We need to rest. I'll stay the night here on the watch."

Lydia raised her eyebrow at the hastily spoken words. She wanted to retort but caught herself in time, for angering Aela even more was not in her plans. Silently, wordlessly, she raised herself from her seat, grabbed the sheath with her sword inside and treaded up the stairs. Hesitating for a moment she uttered loudly enough for the Huntress to hear.

"Wake me if you need me."

She wouldn't. Lydia knew she wouldn't.

And as expected, Aela simply ignored her. Instead, she moved the chair closer to the fireplace, and stared at the obscuring darkness beyond the window in the farthest wall, with multiple thoughts flooding her head like water. And the heroine of all these thoughts was the Dragonborn.

* * *

Exquisite. Delicate. Meticulously detailed.

That is what the Blue Palace was.

The beauty of the inner designs was heightened through the intricate, untarnished and impeccable finish. The hall was lavishly decorated with various sweet-scented flowers that plainly stood out against the gray stone walls. A pleasing to eye enormous ceiling lamp illuminated the hall as brightly as daylight. And the actual daylight in its turn was pervading the emphatically furnished room with rays of the rising sun which could be noticed through the numerous windows above which formed an elegant circle under the dome.

It was an early morning, and a flow of people restlessly surged through the halls from one door to another, engaged in multiple duties as befitted the faithful servants of the Palace. A few guards were standing by the door, the exotically curved staircase and massive columns that seemed like they were holding all the weight of the dome above.

Every movement was vigorous and the whole Palace seemed lively, every detail reminded the visitor that this, _this_ very place was the beating heart of Skyrim; this very place was supposed to be ever-lasting, this very place will live as long as the High King or Queen reigns over the vast land of Skyrim while sitting on the throne within the walls of the Blue Palace.

Aela the Huntress was less impressed with the place, even much less, than Lydia - that was quite visible on both their faces. In the brunette's opinion, either it was Aela's freshly applied war paint that obstructed almost any expression on her appearance, or the redhead was sick of the interior.

But the Housecarl shook off that thought and instead focused on the decorum of the Palace, taking in every little detail, for she had not been here at all, not even once. Every meeting Elisif would have with Kelria, had always excluded herself and she had never been honored to even take a look at the insides of this massive building. Take care of the house, Lydia, fetch this, fetch that – that had at times irritated her but she had known that someday they would honor her with permission to step onto the solid yet delicate surface of the Palace's floor.

And now she did. The Palace was built in the stead of the old one that was destroyed by fire, and Lydia wondered what it had looked like before; but it hardly ever mattered now for her. She focused on what was a head of her.

Aela confidently, as if accustomed to such walking within the royal residence, strode up the curved staircase with the brunette following behind. She slowed down her pace and finally halted it when she reached the center of the well-lit room.

"Uhh…" a man, who stood leaned over the table looking at some papers scattered around, grunted in indignation as soon as he heard the two women approaching. "Why won't these people stop bothering me…I've told you-" He cut off his own sentence when he finally looked up at the newcomers and let out a single "Uh huh…"

"Steward Falk."

"Aela the Huntress of the Companions" uttered the man more calmly now. "I didn't expect you would return so soon. And this lady here is …?"

"Dragonborn's Housecarl. My name is Lydia."

The Housecarl was now able to look at the Steward closer now that they faced each other clearly. He seemed to be in his forties, his short, flame-like hair and beard adorned his appearance, and the color was a tone darker than that of Aela. His voice and posture spoke of his goodwill and amiable disposition towards the women.

"Falk Firebeard, the Steward of Jarl Elisif the Fair."

Aela meanwhile looked at the empty throne. There was no one else but them and two guards standing against opposite walls up here. She raised her eyebrow for a moment before turning back to the Steward.

"We need to speak with the Jarl. And it is better if it happens as quickly as possible."

"Oh, she is already awaken I believe. I will come and notify her about your arrival." With these words he strode away to the left wing of the Palace where Elisif's personal quarters would be.

It didn't take long for them to wait as a young woman, followed by Steward Falk, emerged from the doorway and, curiously watching Aela and Lydia, strolled over into the spacious Hall. Her eyes fell upon the Huntress and she hasted her pace towards them.

Elisif the Fair was a fairly good-looking young lady, her appearance implied her stately position among all the noblemen. Her neatly combed red hair was adorned with an exquisite circlet, made of copper and ruby, and her raiment was that of what royalty was supposed to wear. Her youthful features were no more distorted with grief for her dead husband High King Torygg, as it had been almost two years since the tragedy, and for a woman like her, it was more important to focus on what was still alive and try and keep it that way.

"Aela!" was the first thing Elisif exclaimed as she stopped right in front of the war-painted Huntress. She then turned to the brunette who stood beside Aela. "And you must be…"

"Lydia, the Dragonborn is my Thane. It is an honor to meet you, my Jarl" Lydia respectfully bowed her head, receiving a warm smile in return.

"A friend of the Dragonborn is my friend as well. Welcome, Lydia." Elisif turned to Aela. "Any…any good news?" Her voice sounded so hopeful and Aela instantly knew what she was asking about.

"Good news – yes. But they don't usually come without bad ones."

"I'm listening, Aela, don't keep me waiting, I'm begging you."

"We found the Dragonborn. She is... alive." ' _I hope so'_ , added Aela silently in her own mind.

Elisif let out a visibly relieved sigh and raised her palm, pressing it to where her heart would be. She beamed at the news. It was a bit strange for Aela to gauge such a reaction from the woman who was barely close enough to Kelria. In front of the Dragonborn, Elisif would always look like an admirer, and the former would simply ignore all the compliments from the Jarl. No, Elisif was not a hypocrite, Aela couldn't put such an accusation on the young woman, her feelings and adoration were all genuine. Both Kelria and Elisif were of the same age and it was only natural to feel that way. And Kelria's support was, however, crucially required in the war, and it did seem like Elisif would not calm down until she had the famous Dragonborn on her side.

"This is great news! Where… where is she? I will arrange the meeting at once, we need to speak urgently. For the love of Talos, she is found-"

"My Jarl. This is what I need to talk to you about."

Elisif's smile slowly faded as she understood that that was the only good news she would hear. She nodded in a reserved manner and turned around to walk up to her throne and, adjusting her raiment, carefully sit down on it with her hands folded on her lap. The still silent Steward took a place near the throne and crossed his arms over his chest, prepared to listen as well.

"Of course, please continue…"

"As you well know, Skyrim now has another enemy and I am aware that you have suffered losses not only in the War, but from the hands of the vampires as well." She paused, watching Elisif's facial expression as it was focused and intense. "We need help. The Dragonborn needs help. She asks for your cooperation against the enemy. She needs you to unite with your allies and aid her in defeating the vampires. She knows of their safehouse. Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun will support you. I know it may be hard to split the focus on both the War and-"

"She has my help." was a quick answer.

"My Jarl?" asked Falk Firebeard in a confused tone.

"My decision is not to be discussed, Steward Falk."

"Of course, my Jarl. But I highly suggest you speak with General Tullius regarding the war efforts, we do not have enough-"

"I will ask for the General's advice when I need it. This is not the case. What he must do is prepare an army, large enough to resist the vampires and if lucky, uproot them. Is that clear, Steward Falk?"

"I understand, my Jarl. Apologies."

"So, where is Kelria? Was she not able to come here?" Elisif turned to Aela and Lydia, a note of sadness was heard in her voice.

"She is doing the work her own way. We have to wait."

"She disappeared again … But she is alive, that is all I need to know. Thank you, Aela, Lydia. There is a request I would like to ask of you. I would be happy if you discussed the strategy with General Tullius. I am more than certain Jarl Balgruuf confides in your abilities, and since he does, I see no reason not to trust you with such task."

Aela's lips formed a thin line and she forced a small, dubious smile out of herself. "It would be an honor, my Jarl."

"Wonderful. Steward, call for the General and arrange a meeting."

"At once, my Jarl." The man bowed out and left hurriedly.

* * *

"Kelria…Is this…"

"Please, don't say 'cat'."

"Is this a _cat_?"

"Are you serious?"

Kelria failed to resist the urge of rolling her eyes when she saw Serana's surprised reaction. After three days of travelling from Ivarstead they had finally neared the city of Riften and now stood on the left bank of the blue river. To the right of them spread numerous houses built on the very water and behind these houses towered huge mountains, the peaks of which were covered in clouds and snow.

Such scenery… such picturesque view… and it was all ignored by the both women as Serana stood with her mouth agape and looked at someone in a small camp ahead.

Kelria raised an eyebrow at her with a mockingly judgmental look.

Serana glanced at the girl and upon seeing the expression on her face she stared at her with a confused frown. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why are you looking at _him_ like that?"

"It's a _he_?!"

"Great, he's giving us a strange look now. Way to go, Serana."

"What…"

"Don't tell me you've never seen a Khajiit before."

"A Kha-what?"

Kelria raised her eyes to the skies, muttering a "Save me, Akatosh." and receiving a tug at her tunic's sleeve.

"He is… coming here."

"What, are you afraid of 'cats'?"

Serana wanted to talk back but stopped herself as the fancy-clad Khajiit strode over to them with a smile; his tail wavered slowly as he walked.

"These young ladies seem lonely; Ri'Dul can keep them company, if the ladies want so."

Kelria snorted and quietly yet meaningfully repeated to Serana: "'Young' ladies"

Bad idea. Serana shot her with a look that would be able to burn Kelria alive.

The girl cleared her throat. "Not really, thank you. We were on the way to the city."

"If these ones want to pass time, these ones now know where to find Ri'Dul. Waiting for the caravan for a few days now and will possibly wait for a few more. Ri'Dul can even show them his friends if they would like so. S'ari and Dahlzah will be very happy." He nodded vigourously as he stared at them with a wide grin, showing his feline, fine teeth.

His eyes were then suddenly fixated on Serana's which she tried to cover with her hood.

"The eyes of this one remind me of something. Very, very beautiful. Ri'Dul's friend told him a story long ago about someone who used amber to cure their blindness with magic and that very someone then had the same eyes as this one."  
He then pointed his paw at Kelria. "Would this one like to have amber eyes too? They would fit this one quite well."

Kelria chuckled, and it was unclear, whether the chuckle was made in a joking or a nervous manner.

"Don't think so. We have to go. Have a good day to you and your friends." She said hastily and took Serana by the forearm, leading her away.

"Likewise. May these ones be careful on their way." The Khajiit smiled at them, scratching his fur on his cheek before shrugging to himself and returning to his camp.

"Kelria?"

The girl looked at Serana with hesitation and then lowered her eyes at her own hand that was still gripping the vampire's forearm. She swiftly removed it as if she got burned. "Sorry."

"Something is on your mind. What happened?" Serana looked at her with a concerned gaze, patiently waiting, as they moved towards the city.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Kelria ignored her and a few minutes passed in silence before she spoke once again.

"So how come you don't know anything about Khajiits?"

By the time they were having this conversation they had already passed the city gates and walked through the labyrinth of wooden bridges and cobblestone pavement over the river.

"Why are you changing the topic?"

"I'm still waiting for the answer."

Serana sighed. "I hadn't seen this world for over four thousand years. I was raised in a castle, and I was never allowed to leave its territories. I didn't know anything about what was happening beyond the walls."

Kelria looked at her companion sympathetically. "Shit. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been like … that."

"Like what, a cocky bastard?" Serana smiled.

"Hey, that's offensive. You won't get any more apologies from me."

Serana chuckled and followed Kelria down the stairs to the lowest level of the city. Finally the Dragonborn found an iron barred door that was hidden behind several wooden barrels. She opened it and in front of them stood another one. She carefully opened it and stepped aside, motioning her hands towards the darkness behind it, as if presenting something magnificent.

"Welcome to the sewers!"

"Are you joking?"Serana stood stunned, looking ahead of her with a doubtful gaze.

"So not only is the mighty vampire afraid of cats, she is also afraid of rats?"

"Shut up."

With a groan Serana entered through the doorway first with Kelria in tow.

"Actually, we should indeed shut up. Skeevers must be very hungry right now."

* * *

The Ratway was a very obnoxiously scented network of sewer tunnels underneath the city. It was a very peculiar labyrinth and you could only guess what awaited you in one corner or another. Plenty of shady people could walk the tunnels with their own pursuit. And so did skeevers.

"So what is this Thieves Guild?" Serana asked Kelria as she stumbled upon a hanging moss and waved it off from her face.

"Basically, these people are all about stealing shiny things and causing commotions in the city."

"And you were one of them?"

Kelria placed her hand on the handle of the last door. She hesitated after the question.

"I didn't know where to go after…after leaving the Companions. I needed money, I needed … someone. Someone who wouldn't ask me about anything and would just let me live the way I want. Besides, not everyone lives in a luxurious castle, you know."

Serana said nothing. What could she even say? She wouldn't understand the burden of this Dragonborn, even slightly.

Finally opening the door, they walked into a spacious hall with a circular shallow pool in the center. The water shimmered brightly as the daylight was permeating into the room through the rounded hole in the ceiling.

"The Ragged Flagon" stated Kelria and motioned for Serana to follow her through the right side of the pool over the wooden bridge.

Behind this pool of water one could see various tables and chairs and everything could remind one of a tavern.

"No way."

Both women heard a voice coming from behind the bar and saw a dark-haired man who was staring at Kelria; his hand abruptly ceased wiping the counter with a rag.

There were three people in the tavern present: two Nord men and a Redguard woman. And all of them looked at Kelria with a shocked expression. She felt awkward now standing under all these eyes glaring at her.

She cleared her throat and, maintaining an impassive, calm visage, looked around the Flagged Flagon. "Hasn't changed a bit, I see."

Another man came in through the door behind the inn and the scene he saw was quite strange. Three people to the right silently staring at the two women on the left who were also staring back at the three people to the right.

Grave silence.

Kelria finally turned her attention to the bald man in stud armor, with a small dagger sheathed on his belt he always bore, and she recognized Delvin Mallory in him.

"Thought we might never see ya." Were all his words before he walked up to the counter and grabbed a bottle of mead that was standing there.

"Well? Come 'ere, Kelria. And you, whoever you are." He beckoned his hand over, motioning for the two women to join him and when they did, he turned to the dark-haired man. "Get them something too, Vekel, I'll pay."

"Actually, no thank you. We'll be fine."

Kelria scratched her neck and continued. "Vex said the Guild might even hate me."

"Well, it depends on the reason why you left us."

"I had a reason. Many…reasons. Delvin, I'd like to talk to you about something. I know you follow on every rumour that happen to be spoken in the Rift."

He peeked at Kelria and then at her friend, stopping his gaze on Serana's eyes for several seconds. "And how can I help you ladies?"

"Just a few questions. Do many people come to the Rift from Cyrodiil?"

"Not many, no. Are you looking for someone specific?"

"I need to know about something that might or might not have happened there."

Delvin seemed to have downed the leftover of the mead from the bottle and placed it down, leaning on the counter with his elbows. "I'm all ears."

"Is it true that the Temple of Ancestors Moth was destroyed?"

The man sighed and turned to another bottle, his hands touching the glass as if unsure whether to just take it and drink it or leave it be.

"Mhn…let me think. I met someone a few moons ago, a merchant from the Imperial City who came to the Rift…" He paused, looking at Kelria."Do you really want to know what rumours he told me?"

Kelria's heart dropped. She already understood that the news wouldn't be as she expected them to be. She looked at Serana next to her and saw how expressively the amber eyes stared into her own. They both shared the shame concern.

Kelria did not even find the strength to speak and simply nodded to Delvin.

"The Temple was burned. Cruelly." Kelria felt dizzy. "It might be still standing, I mean it was made of stone, but … Probably not a single thing survived there. Titus Mede II strongly forbade putting the event into the chronicles for reasons unknown to anyone."

A lump in Kelria's throat didn't let her speak right away, so she dropped her gaze on the floor, trying to find enough strength to stand on her feet.

"It does sound a bit strange, eh? It's like he doesn't want his own people to know about it."

"Who could have done this?" Serana's voice was so faint to the point that it sounded like she was talking to herself.

"Anyone. Cyrodiil has never been a safe place. Constant strife and wars. It might have as well been the Thalmor. Those fanatics made a lot of shit for Cyrodiil, everyone knows it. Always tried to end the worship of Talos, perhaps even to the point of coming to indiscriminately destroying every temple in the Empire. The words of the merchant, not mine. I don't even want to pry into that stuff."

"They couldn't have…No." Kelria shook her head. "Their business is mostly with a certain group, not the whole Empire."

"What strikes me more, is that the Emperor keeps silent about this. He surely knows more." Serana mused on the thought out loud and looked at Kelria.  
"Could he have been threatened…"

"Delvin? Do you know anything more?" Kelria was trying her best not to sound broken.

"No, ladies, alas. That's all the old man has."

Kelria was lost in thoughts. It was eating at her from the inside. The vampires would turn Skyrim upside down until they find the Scroll and eventually they would, if she didn't do something. And what was more there to do? If only a miracle could happen but do miracles even happen? She shook it off.

"Thank you for the information. I appreciate it, really, Delvin."

"No need. You err… drop in, you know. We actually missed ya, don't listen to Vex. She actually wasn't the one to handle your leaving lightly."

Kelria nodded faintly and patted Delvin's shoulder in a friendly manner as a form of farewell.

When she and Serana closed the door behind them, she leaned her back against it and gave a sincere, apologetic look. "I'm so sorry…"

Serana remained silent for a few seconds, forcing a small, sad smile out of herself.

"Not your fault. There should be another way. But…" Serana hesitated. "I will understand if you leave…"

"No." Kelria pushed herself off the door and stepped forward on the same step of the stairs until she came closer in to Serana face-to-face. Their eyes were glued to one another.

Amber and ocean.

The sun and the sky.

A long moment had passed before Kelria's voice softly rang in a whisper in the space between them.

"We will find a way."

* * *

It took them less than a day to get through the Dayspring Canyon and at twilight they finally stepped onto the path leading towards Fort Dawnguard.

Kelria did not know why Serana hadn't stopped even once in her track, for it was almost a suicide mission for her. No, it _was_ a suicide mission. A minor slip in front of Isran and she was dead for good. Only Kelria had started hesitating once they were out of the cave because she was leading her companion to the doom. Possibly both of them.

"You haven't said a word." suddenly spoke Serana as they were ascending the hill.

"Neither have you."

"You haven't even rested or slept since we arrived to Riften, Kelria." The vampire sent a concerned look in the Dragonborn's direction. "We go through forests, I always have blood, but you … I rarely see you resting or eating."

"And? I have enough strength." Kelria shrugged it off, inhaling and exhaling through her nose, visibly getting frustrated.

"Last time you had a sleep… You were having a nightmare. Again. It was the second time I'd noticed it. Will you _ever_ tell me what is going on in your head?"

"My dreams are mine, none of them should matter to anyone. Now please, let's close this topic."

"I hardly know anything about you…" muttered Serana.

In a few minutes they saw Fort Dawnguard in all its glory. It didn't look terrifying but the idea of going there definitely was.

"Hide your eyes. Don't look at anyone. Look down and follow my lead." The Dragonborn instructed Serana but there was no need in that, as it was too obvious.

They stepped into the training ground and several people were gathered there – Nords, Redguards, Bretons, everyone who either wanted to gain fame or actually help Skyrim. Kelria felt it was mostly the first.

She tried her best to hide Serana from the prying eyes and when she saw that Isran was not in the yard, she moved to the Fort.

It felt like she hadn't been there for months – so much had happened over the last couple of weeks, she lost the sense of time. Once again her foot stepped into the familiar circular hall and suddenly her courage vanished. She was almost ready to drop this idea and turn back before it was too late but there he was.

She heard a bolt pierced the air and penetrated the dummy's head on the left side of the Hall. Isran was training. And he had a weapon in his hands. She couldn't see what his bolts were made of but she prayed they were not what she thought they might be. She swiftly stepped in front of Serana, to provide some cover as they were nearing Isran.

He sensed their approach as he aimed at the dummy and after looking at who it was, he put on a shocked expression on his face that insinuated his realization on that fact that after all this time Kelria finally appeared out of nowhere. He lowered his crossbow to his side and stood there, waiting as the two women, one obstructing the view of the other, came closer to him.

"Before you ask, yes I have been in Dimhollow Crypt and yes I have found what you were looking for." Kelria's heart started beating faster.

"We all thought you were dead. Now tell me, Kelria, what have you found?" he urged her.

Before all, she cautiously placed one hand on the hilt of her sword. All with slow motion, she stepped aside, revealing Serana behind her and the latter lifted up her head. Her amber eyes stared into Isran's.

In one swift instant, the crossbow was menacingly pointed at Serana's head and Kelria stepped in front of it with a loud "No!", drawing her sword as quickly as possible.

"Isran, hear me out. She is not like them." She pointed her sword at the man's chest. She wouldn't be able to be fast with the crossbow glaring at her.

"Is this a joke, Kelria?! Do you even realize who you have brought here?! Now step aside!"

"No. Please. Listen to me. Lower your weapon, Isran. She is not a threat to you."

"You are greatly mistaken. _It_ is a threat to all of us, all of Skyrim. Don't force my hand and move out of the way!" Isran attempted to circle them but Kelria deliberately covered Serana's body with her own.

"Look into her eyes, they are not red!"

"All these vampires are the same! Don't you see that this one has deceived you?! It has lured you into trusting it. Now let's get it over with and there is still a chance to save you from its trap."

"There is a much bigger threat in Skyrim and she knows about it! Just give her a few minutes to explain!"

"There is no way I would listen to a bloodsucker. It's made you insane." He paused and looked straight into Kelria's eyes and she couldn't understand why his own were so unreadable. "I'm sorry."

Serana looked behind them and saw two other hunters emerged from the entrance door with their crossbows aimed at them.

"Kelria!"

The Dragonborn hastily turned her head to see what was going on and suddenly felt an excruciating pain in her temple as if something hard hit her. Black dots appeared in her eyes and she felt disoriented. She tried to maintain her balance, she tried to not fall down, but all she managed to do was to collect strength for slashing her sword at Isran's leg, spilling blood over the tip of her weapon.

She heard a painful yelp. And then felt an even more dreadful pain in her side.

Another yelp. This time it was hers.

She couldn't breath, she lacked air, the pain suffocated her. Something was inside her. Something sharp.

The world was spinning around her and she winced at the agonizing, tormenting pain in her body. She struggled to raise her hand and press it against the wound on her waist , and her palm was instantly coated with burning blood. Her knees finally gave in and she dropped onto the hard, solid floor of the hall.

She heard voices, she heard cries, she heard everything but all the sounds were so deafening she couldn't comprehend what was going on.

Her eyes were open but everything was blurred, it was distorted, it was unbearable.

An overwhelming feeling of dread took over and she thought it would only get worse and worse.

She felt someone tugging at her and but was able to see only black and yellow.

A harrowing, loud cry.

Was it her own?

The hold on her body loosened and her eyes made out a silhouette looming over her. She had no strength to keep them open. She tried to, but to no avail. The pain was blinding her, it was torturing her. She closed her eyes to shield herself from the pain but it felt like it would never leave her.

' _Forgive me_.' she thought.

And then she felt nothing.

* * *

 **A/N: Don't hesitate to write what you think. ^^  
** **Also, concerning the time length it takes to travel from one place to another: I imagine Skyrim being far larger than it's presented in-game. Obviously, I don't want my characters to cross the whole Skyrim on foot in 10 minutes... lol**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 _Everything around her was hazy and the fog blinded her as there was no possibility to look through the shrouding mist. She felt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. All her senses were dulled and subdued and it only increased her panic inside with each moment; yet no beat of her heart was heard, no pulsing veins felt, but only anxiety started creeping from her stomach and up her spine before it settled in her head._

 _A hysterical laugh came from behind._

 _She struggled to turn around, yet only now did she understand that nothing below her neck could move an inch. Looking down at herself, she couldn't notice anything that could have restrained her body, although for reason unknown it felt numb and immobilized._

 _Raising her eyes, she all of a sudden came face to face with a strange man who was looking at her with a creepy, wide grin. His short hair and beard were white-gray, eyes conveyed insanity and with a mad look he seemed to observe every feature on her face._

" _You." She whispered gravely, looking straight into his eyes._

 _The old man let out a short and crazy laugh._

" _Now, now. Where are the pleasantries? Where is 'Hello, Sheogorath! How have you been? Long time no see!'? I am genuinely offended by this insolence! It seems to me nobody teaches Dragonborns to be well-bred these days. How unfortunate for me to be on the receiving end of bad attitude such as yours!"_

 _Kelria clenched her teeth fiercely. "You are supposed to be in Oblivion. What is going on?"_

" _My, you even lack patience!"_

 _Another hysterical laugh followed for more than a minute before he exhaled wistfully._

" _Ahhh…You know, they say laughing can extend one's lifespan for quite a long time! Oh! Why would I even care? I am immortal!"_

 _Kelria_ _was_ _gradually growing weary of the Daedric Prince's constant laugh and if only had she had her way, she would have smeared that stupid grin off his face._

" _Tell me what the fuck is happening!" Her eyes projected anger and annoyance, and the longer she waited, the stronger became her anxiety._

" _Oh, you don't have to be so worried. It is merely your dream, a figment of your imagination, so to speak." The Daedric Prince shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and started slowly pacing around Kelria, and as far as it was possible, her eyes thoroughly followed him._

" _You used to tell Pelagius the same thing?" Her eyes narrowed and shot the arrows of contempt at him, receiving a chuckle in return._

" _Actually, not quite! Be it my will, I would have fled the Shivering Isles and thoroughly explored your mind." He paused for a moment, stopping in his tracks. "Now then. I know how happy you are to see me, I can read it in your eyes! As I said, none of this is real, but I would rather you listen to my words before it is too late."_

" _Too late?"_

 _He seemed to ignore the question, and continued his speech and pacing, not even blessing her with a look of his mad eyes._

" _Your mind and your body are so disgustingly weak, it makes me abhor you just by looking at you. Ergh! However! Your inner dragon…" Once again he ceased walking and neared Kelria's, leaning his head towards her ear. "It yields power, the amount of which you still have not realized, mortal. And it is so shameful you are so weak to let it out. So pathetic."_

 _The Mad God stepped into her view once again, his gaze holding hers within the fog of tension between them, and raised his finger ever so slowly up to her forehead. She tried to turn her head away but there was nothing she could do to escape whatever the madman had in mind._

 _Then the touch commenced._

 _Now she felt it._

 _A splitting pain struck across her head and settled in her right temple. She screamed loudly, unable to hold back the cries of severe pain and in a swift instance the invisible restraints vanished and she found herself on the ground. The fall made a thud sound, and it echoed in her head, bringing even more violent pain which she couldn't subside, no matter how hard she tried. Her eyes were shut close, and the wince distorted her appearance, which conveyed the violence that was going through her body at the very tormenting moment._

 _It was unexplainable why she would feel pain in a dream, more so with such force. Tears started sliding down her cheeks; it felt real, it_ was _real, until the voice behind her abruptly called out to her._

" _Now look!"_

 _She didn't want to open the eyes, she begged for the eyelids not to open but as if forced to, they finally did. She looked at the ground in front of her. Every patch of soil was covered in ash and she smelled a pungent odor of smoke surrounding her. Despite the blinding ache, she forced her body to rise on its feet and looked at the scenery. The ground was gray-white and the scarlet flames were shrouding the skies. There were only two colors veiling the world - red and gray – and hundreds of their shades._

" _This! This power can surpass the power of Mehrunes Dagon himself! Ha!"_

 _For a long period of time her teary eyes were helplessly roaming everywhere her vision could reach. Then they stopped abruptly and glued themselves to one spot. Kelria let out a gasp and impotently fell to her knees when they refused to support her body anymore. What she saw shattered the last wall of defense built around her._

 _Bodies were lying on the ground, dozens of them, unmoving and still. She knew who they all were. She didn't need to come closer to distinguish their faces. It felt like this knowledge was forced into her mind without any obstacles._

" _This is… No…"_

" _Yes, yes. I am looking forward to the day your Dragon unleashes its full power and brings Chaos to Nirn. I will celebrate it._ We _will celebrate it. Nothing will stand in the way between Nirn and Oblivion. It will be a grand day…" Sheogorath let out a hysterical laugh after his words and his eyes were pleased to gauge the Dragonborn's reaction, it was as if they longed to see helplessness in the mighty hero._

 _It was insufferable for Kelria to watch what was around her. Now her whole body and mind was in agony she couldn't control and couldn't suppress. Her hands found her head and clenched the hair tightly, as she tried to get the dreadful images out of her head; the ambience was filled with her hard breathing and constant cries were elicited from her throat._

 _All her nightmares had been leading her to this very terror. She would be the cause of this and the thought of it was making her sick and insane. She imagined her body and mind crumbling before the Dragon inside her, and if it happened, the world would be shattered in pieces._

 _This…all of this had started since vanquishing Alduin…The thought slipped in her mind. She stilled herself with her mouth agape, panting heavily as she realized what everything actually meant._

" _I…I didn't…" She whispered to herself with unsteadiness in her breathing. "I didn't defeat Alduin…"_

 _Now she understood everything._

' _Dragonborns can read Elder Scrolls' said Serana long time ago. 'You can'_

' _I can't. I'm sorry.'_

 _The dialogue played in her head over and over again. Every syllable of the spoken words was filling her mind, each second getting louder and louder to the point that she had to press her palms against her own ears to suppress the sound. But it was pointless. Every attempt to subdue the pain and the voices – everything was pointless._

 _Yet it all became clear. All of that was the reason she could hardly remember the fight at the Throat of the World and in Sovngarde. The Dragon inside had overtaken the control of her own self. No… she couldn't bear to recall those moments, not now, not here - her head was about to explode from all the thoughts forcefully invading her mind._

" _Ha! It is so thrilling to watch you! Forgive me my excitement." He cleared his throat for a moment. "Now that you have realized that it was your Dragon that had saved you, it would seem my job here is done."_

" _No, please…" Once again tears involuntarily ran down her cheeks as she winced in agony and grasped her own arms for a small bit of comfort._

" _Now, now. Stop crying like a little girl. Remember, this is merely a dream, so don't you dare go and bother me in the Shivering Isles. I am possibly enjoying my supper there. And cheese…oh…to die for!"_

 _She slowly turned her head to look at him just before his body transformed into something that made her heart sink in fear and eyes widen in terror. She tried to crawl backwards but the terrifying head of the World Eater she remembered so vividly was too fast; smoke emitted from his nostrils threateningly up in the shrouded by flames sky._

" _AHST LAAT, KHEIIRA"_

 _The roar deafened her and his dreadful eyes were the last thing she saw before the blazing flames engulfed her body.  
_

* * *

Her whole body was in a dull, nagging pain and she felt it as soon as she opened her eyes. The eyelids were so heavy, she could barely keep them open for more than a second, which resulted in a constant blinking and attempts at bringing focus into them. The image before her was still blurred and smeared but she knew she was looking at the ceiling and wherever she was – there was scarcely any light in there.

She tried to move her head by an inch and instantly regretted it as she suddenly felt sick and wanted to vomit; a small groan came out from her throat at the dizzy feeling and a wince formed on her face when the pain in her right temple grew stronger at the minor turn of her head.

She struggled to raise one of her hands, but it was weak and couldn't obey her the way she wanted it to, although after a minute of forcing her hand to move, she was finally able to touch the wound on her temple and find out there was a wet cloth on it. A few locks of her fair hair were stained in dried blood. In fact, her whole body felt soaking wet – cold sweat made her dark-gray tunic unpleasantly stick to her skin. Then she realized that she wore no armor on her upper body, only the tunic, which made her think of another wound.

Lowering her hand down to her left side under the top, she perceived another cloth being wrapped around her waist. A small touch of her finger over the bandaged wound sent a shocking pain through her whole body and she quickly retrieved her hand and tried to sit up with her arms instead, trying not to mind the ache and a nauseating feeling.

"Finally you're awake. Thought you'd never wake up with all these wounds."

Isran.

Kelria was lying on something soft and it was not uncomfortable, otherwise she possibly would have never even got up with a sore back. She realized it was a bed and the room was someone's quarters, the only torch on the farthest wall brought some weak lighting into the room, and she tried to remember what had happened before she had lost consciousness but her mind deliberately refused to work. Her lips parted to answer but no sound came out; her whole mouth was as dry as a desert and she only managed to let out a cough which sent yet another bolt of pain through her body.

Noting this fact, Isran took an iron mug that stood on a cupboard in the farthest corner of the small room and slowly walked up to her bedside. And then she noticed his hobble. The area below his right knee was wrapped with a bandage. She knew that wound, it was her doing. But Isran seemed to ignore her curious look.

Kelria cast a doubtful gaze at the mug. He saw her hesitation, but didn't remove his hand.

"It's water."

Her shaking hand lifted up to take the mug and she eagerly downed the content, even too eagerly as it resulted in more series of coughs.

"Take it easy."

Finally she felt a small bit of strength returning to her, her brain receiving enough oxygen to work properly and she returned the empty mug to Isran.

"How…how long have I been out?"

"About a day. Had someone tend to your injuries. You had some hell of a restless sleep, even needed another pair of hands to hold you down."

She hadn't eaten for days now which made her wonder when would be the next time she would lose her conscience due to the lack of energy.

But her thoughts trailed back to her nightmare. Thank the Divines it was only a dream. But…was it? She shook off that thought, deciding she would get back to it when she felt strong enough.

"Where is…Where is Serana?" She asked faintly, her eyes widening in fear.

Isran let the silence linger, letting out a deep sigh and folding his arms, purposefully taking his time.

"The vampire is not a threat to you or us anymore." His visage was calm and impassive as he looked into Kelria's eyes that were becoming more and more filled with anger.

"What did you do to her?!"

"Calm down, Kelria. No need to shout, you must rest."

"Tell me where she is or I swear I will rip your throat out." Her eyes intensely bored into his, and she sounded even more menacing now that her voice was husky and coarse after all that time of screaming in her sleep.

"Still referring to it as if it is a human being… _She_ is locked up in a cell. Too weak to try and escape the Fort, so you have nothing to fear. We will execute her come the next morning."

"You will do what?!" She clenched fist and collected all her strength to get up from the bed. Her balance was unstable, and she still felt dizzy but her anger was taking control over her and silencing most of the pain.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"I wouldn't stand in my way, if I were you." Kelria growled as she slowly, as her body allowed, moved closer to Isran.

"Don't make me restrain you, Kelria." He didn't even flinch at the nearing threat, but only observed her and it irritated her to the point that it made her want to snap his neck. No, she definitely wanted to snap his neck and burn him alive after what he did to Serana and herself.

Now she remembered everything.

But in such a state, she couldn't do anything in spite of her desire of cruelly murdering Isran and all his accomplices. She couldn't even walk unhindered, and almost lost her footing, but when she felt Isran was trying to support her by the shoulder, she broke her arm out of the hold and stared daggers at him.

"Let me the fuck out of here and if something happens to Serana, I will make sure you will eternally burn in the planes of Oblivion."

Isran said nothing and did nothing. He simply stared into the eyes full of rage and shook his head slowly, issuing it with a long sigh. Kelria saw him turning around and walking to the door, seemingly ready to leave.

"You need to cool down a bit. Your wounds aren't healed yet and I'm sure you don't want to get any more of those." His voice and gaze gave out the subtle meaning of his words before he swiftly disappeared out of the room and closed the door.

Then she heard a lock.

"NO!" She dashed towards the door as fast as the pain allowed her and pulled the handle hard, which resulted in nothing. She started to bang at the door with her fist but it wouldn't even budge.

Now she felt helpless and because of her recklessness Serana was about to die. Her friend would die because of _her_. Why…why did she even come up with this idea of coming here with that raven-haired vampire? Why was she certain it would work? Of course she wasn't. Because she was stupid.

' _You're a fucking idiot'_ , she thought to herself and pressed her back against the door, sliding down slowly and weakly until she could hug her knees closer to her chest and bury her face in her arms. She had no strength to think; in addition to physical pain there was a mental one, and it seemed like her mind would rather explode in million pieces rather than start working.

For a moment she wished it was like that.

* * *

Kelria couldn't track the time but she was certain that at least three hours had already passed when she heard voices behind her door. She couldn't comprehend what they were saying but then she heard the footsteps subsiding somewhere far from the room, denoting the fact that she was finally alone here. She quickly looked around the room to find something that would help her escape but she saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. She had no weapons, no armor – everything had been taken away. She had long exposed of the bloody cloth on her head, there was dried blood on her skin and she knew it didn't look very pleasing.

She wondered if someone would hear her breaking the door but there was little time to muse upon it. If anything, the pain was not as strong as it was before and not making her as sick, so there was a chance to leg it as fast as she possibly could…

The Dragonborn took a few steps away from the door and inhaled deeply. She knew it would give her another splitting headache but she had to try.

" _FUS_!'

Her Thu'um rocked the room and jolted her backwards, but she managed to retain her balance and heard the rattling sound of the door flying off its hinges and landing onto the floor with a loud thud.

She acted quickly.

Dashing out of the room, she ran along the corridors to where she thought the stairs to the dungeons would be. She had never been below the first floor but Isran had once showed her the door to the basement. Everything was still and silent, and she knew it was only a matter of time before Isran learned of her escape. The Fort was enormous. Too huge for a simple fort.

But without losing any time, she hastily worked her way through the winding corridors. She only spotted a few men on the way but easily avoided them without giving any sign of her presence, just like she was taught in the Thieves Guild. Finally, she found the relevant door. Perfect. She slipped inside into another narrow corridor.

Opening yet another door from the passageway that led to the room of destination, she came crashing into a Redguard male, head into head.

She didn't let him recollect himself and shoved her right fist into his stomach, eliciting a painful groan deep from his throat, and once he bended over in pain she took his head with both her hands and sharply guided it down to her swiftly rising knee, wincing at the exertion she had on her side. Something crackled but she couldn't bother to care as long as it wasn't her body.

Kelria let the Redguard's body fall onto the floor and quickly inspected the room. There were three big cells that stood in a row, adjacent to the right wall, each had a barred door closed with a lock. The light in the room was so dim that it couldn't even reach the cells and she hardly saw anything in the depths of the darkness.

A bunch of keys lay on the table in the center of the room and she quickly moved towards it. As soon as she took the keys, she heard a rattling noise coming from the middle cage. She almost hesitated to move closer, afraid of seeing what was inside but she perfectly knew what or even who it was. Yet it frightened her.

Her haste steps directed her towards the cage until her face met the bars. A gasp left her mouth when she saw glowing amber eyes staring right into her own. Despite the tremor in her hands, she worked as fast as she could with the lock until it finally went off and she pushed the door open.

Now she could see what state Serana was in. A gaping wound covered her thigh and the vampire's leather leggings on that spot were soaked with blood. The ever pale hands were tightly bound in front of her with what seemed like a silver chain and now covered in scarlet liquid. The mere sight at the vampire was too painful for Kelria. And when she looked into her eyes, shivers ran down her spine.

The amber eyes were now filled with hunger, and bare fangs were menacingly showing from behind her crimson lips, threatening to clench themselves upon the flesh of the prey. The eyes were on fire and it was evident that not only had the hunger taken a toll on Kelria's vampiric friend, but also the silver chain painfully sank into the blood-covered hands to the point that the blood seeped through the sleeves of her dark leather armor. Her dark cape around her which was attached by a short chain with a clasp was creasy and covered in dust.

There was no recognition in Serana's eyes when she saw Kelria, yet it didn't stop the Dragonborn to rush towards her and kneel in front of the vampire with compassionate but horrified look.

"S-Serana... Divines... F-forgive me…" She stammered through the words while trying to take the thick chain off Serana's wrists. She noticed that the woman was surprisingly unmoving, yet the ambers eyes bored into Kelria with a strong passion of hunger. Her hands were shaking beyond her will and it took her quite a while before the silver chains yielded to her.

She didn't even have time to hear the rattling sound of the chains dropping on the ground when she suddenly felt her back making a rough contact with the stone floor beneath her feet and out of the cell. Air sharply rushed out of her lungs and shocking pain coursed through her body, but it was only half of the problem. Serana landed right on her, seized the collar of her tunic in a tight hold and relentlessly tried to reach Kelria's neck with her white baleful fangs. It took Kelria all strength she had to keep the vampire away out of reach to her skin but she knew that she wouldn't last long.

"Serana! Please!" She pleaded through her clenched teeth, as Serana's energy increased with each moment.

She had to do something and do it fast.

Her head turned to her right in the direction of the entrance door and her eyes widened at a potential way out of this. The feeling of sharp teeth touching her neck broke her from the moment of reverie and she once again forcefully pushed Serana back. She didn't want to hurt Serana with what she was about to do, but if that was the price of both of them making it out alive, then she would pay it.

The air between them started reverberating; Kelria put whatever was left of her strength into turning both of them in the direction of the exit.

" _FUS_!"

The Shout mercilessly sent Serana flying backwards until the vampire's back hit the wall just beside the entrance door and the body landed beside the still unconscious Redguard male. She probably wouldn't forgive herself for it, letting the vampire take the life of an innocent man, but saving Serana was everything that was on her mind at that particular moment. She couldn't fail. Not again. She hoped to come up with any other plan, but there was none; and before she knew, the plan had worked.

Serana, after collecting herself from the floor, stared at the new prey in front of her. The beast inside her craved for Kelria's unique blood that she could smell from miles, but deep, deep inside she struggled to subdue the feeling and sate the hunger another way. She straddled the male's waist, and without hesitation lowered her head to his neck and sank her fangs deep into his skin.

Finally.

Kelria groaned at the nagging pain when she tried to rise to her feet, which resulted in her losing balance and gripping the edge of the table in the center. Again, there was dizziness and the world started spinning around her. She touched her left side and felt the wet tunic soaked with blood which seeped through the bandage without ceasing. She looked at her scarlet fingers and then raised her eyes at where Serana was. She could hear the gulping noise from where she stood and only after a few moments it all stopped.

The vampire turned her head towards the Dragonborn and the latter now couldn't acknowledge any presence of insane hunger in the amber eyes, instead they stared softly and worriedly into her own.

"Kelria…" She started quietly and slowly stood up from the straddling position over the now dead body of the Redguard, residue of blood dripping from the corner of her lips.

"Hate me later. Can you walk?"

As soon as Kelria received a faint nod, she browsed through the contents on the table and found two daggers lying on the wooden surface. Serana's. Hastily she took the daggers and handed them over to the vampire, before reaching down to unsheathe the Redguard's sword from his scabbard. It was not an easy task as the terrifying ache of her wounds blinded her vision and before she could fall over to the ground, Serana's shaking arms encircled her shoulders and helped her rise to her feet.

Both women didn't share a word as they ascended the stairs back to the corridor Kelria came from. Only when they reached the last door did they hear voices and hurried steps in their direction. They had to act quick. Kelria had to guide Serana through the winding corridors, but she knew not where to go at all. Judging by the lack of sun rays coming from the small windows in the walls, it was about a night time. But did it really matter? The whole Fort now knew of the escaped ex-hunter and her vampiric friend. None of this would have happened if she had thought this through. But she hadn't.

Now wasn't the time to dwell on it, so they worked the way along the solid stone walls and up the curvy stairs that led to one of the two towers that stood out from the main building with a short bridge. There was no way they could exit through the entrance door on the first floor for obvious reason. Only three people did they encounter on their path but they were dealt with as fast as their wounds allowed them, yet more hunters were on their way. Now Kelria felt no remorse while hurting the Dawnguard members, as there was another priority.

Finally they reached the bridge and inhaled the fresh air of the night. Everything was dark, for the Moon was shrouded by thick clouds and only torches embedded in the walls of the Fort provided some dim light to the surroundings. They both reached the middle of the Bridge and looked around, searching for any way to get down on the ground, but the sound of approaching steps made them turn around and ready their weapons.

"You have nowhere to go." The husky voice of Isran echoed through the space around the women and other three hunters behind him, aiming their crossbows at them. "You should have trusted me, Kelria, and not this abomination."

The tension grew palpable and Kelria's heart sank into her stomach. That was their end.

"Drop your sword." She heard a sudden, haste whisper beside her.

She shot Serana a confused look while the latter was slowly sheathing her daggers.

"Do as I say."

She couldn't understand why her friend would give up so easily, but since they had no other way, she finally complied.

Her hand unclenched the hilt of the sword and in a swift instance she felt Serana's arms under her knees and the shoulder blades lifting her body up. Panic aroused every fiber of her skin, and the next thing she knew was both of them leaping from the bridge wall and down to the ground. That woman had to be insane, and she was certain they wouldn't make it alive. Even then, she encircled her arms around the vampire's neck and hid her face in the raven-black hair, frightened to see what was under them and what was above them, but also to be as much close to the woman as it was possible at that very moment. Maybe even their last moment.

And it wasn't what she expected.

Serana's feet made a loud thud against the solid ground and she managed to retain her balance.

It was impossible, thought Kelria. But she sought no necessity to talk about it now. They both heard shouts from behind and a few silver bolts landed just beside their feet. They still had to find cover. Kelria made a faint move to break the hold Serana had on her, but the woman only tightened it, seemingly finding no trouble in carrying a person whatsoever. But she was too exhausted to say anything, let alone resist the vampire, so she simply lowered her head on her friend's shoulder. The next second, they were out of sight, leaving behind the yelling curses and shooting crossbows.

A severely injured Dragonborn being carried by a wounded vampire. That was a tale to tell. The corners of Kelria's lips twitched before her strength finally gave in and she fell limp in Serana's strong arms.

* * *

Daylight pervaded the small cave, but there were no sun rays, for the sky was still clouded after the overcast night . The air was frosty and fresh but it was hardly enough to clear away the smell of blood.

And the scent was the first thing Kelria sensed when she regained her consciousness. It made her sick at once and it filled her nostrils to the point that it made her cough severely. As usual, the wounds became irritated and now ached with a dull pain. She wondered what it would be like to not be hurting again and if the pain would haunt her forever.

She tried to sit up from the uncomfortable ground which was coated with a few piles of leaves underneath her, and found she was covered with… a cape. Serana's cape. But where was she? Kelria was alone, lying in the dim cave. Anxiety arose inside her. Thoughts of the vampire leaving her flooded her mind and she felt so…broken. She knew she deserved it after what happened, and there was no way she could be trusted by Serana ever again. But the thought of the woman leaving stabbed her more painfully than a knife.

A small pile of apples and berries lay on the ground by the nearest wall. Had Serana collected them all? And she didn't know where she was, how far from Fort Dawnguard and Riften, and her troubled mind started to come up with potential threats that could overtake her.

She touched her temple; the injury was not as unbearable as before. When she looked down at her left side, she saw another ripped dark cloth wrapped around her waist and it didn't seem that wet, fortunately. She definitely needed to learn how to fight better, otherwise if Aela learned about all of this, the Werewolf's preaching would haunt her her entire life.

Aela…At this moment, she realized she needed the Huntress, she needed the strong yet soft embrace around her, she needed the comfort Aela would bring and she needed her to say that everything was going to be okay. But nothing was going to be okay. The world was collapsing in front of her and she was becoming a slave to her own self. To her own inner Dragon. She was filled with flaws and couldn't understand how to mend them; she hurt people and didn't know how to undo the immense damage.

Her hands clutched onto the makeshift cover in the form of Serana's cape and after bringing her knees to her chest, she tightly wrapped it around herself for some comfort and warmth. Was it the last thing that was left of the woman?

The answer arrived soon. When the daylight was partially blocked at the entrance of the cave, she raised her eyes to see her companion. So she hadn't left after all.

"Serana, I'm sorry…" started Kelria with a voice filled with remorse.

The vampire slowly walked towards her and kneeled down in front of Kelria. Her eyes intensely stared into the girl's blue ones and conveyed neither hatred nor even a hint of anger. They were… sad.

"Don't…"She whispered back after a moment and settled herself down closer to the Dragonborn, letting her arm wrap around the middle of her back and the other free hand carefully rest upon the girl's knees. "How are you feeling?"

Their faces were a very small distance apart, and Kelria's eyes gazed into the Serana's with a concerned yet bewildered expression.

"You are asking me that after everything that's happened? Serana, I know you can't trust me again but I'm begging-"

"You were stupid." Said Serana bluntly but in a surprisingly calm manner.

Kelria's lips parted to voice something but Serana continued slowly.

"I shared your confidence. A part of me believed and hoped that everything would work, I trusted you…"

The girl nodded her head slowly, but couldn't maintain the eye contact anymore. It was too much for her to look into the eyes of someone she cared about and then hurt. But escaping Serana's gaze wasn't so easy. She felt a soft finger under her chin gently lifting her head back up to fixate the stare between the two of them.

"But…" resumed Serana, looking right into Kelria's eyes. "Not everything in this world is black and white, Kelria. Not everything is easy to define as right and wrong. What you did…It wasn't either."

"You were hurt because of me, Serana…Of course it was wrong"

"The price might be high, but it was the only way to ascertain things. Don't worry about me, my wounds heal faster than yours when I feed. You should say sorry to yourself for putting yourself in such danger." Serana spoke softly, her hand slowly slid up from Kelria's chin to her cheek and gently tucked a few lose strands of the blonde, hair behind her ear, and Kelria involuntarily leaned into the touch. "And I…I attacked you…back there…"

Kelria shook her head faintly. "You were hungry."

"Your blood…It was…It was drawing me in…" Serana's eyes stared into the Dragonborn's for more than a few seconds before she continued. "Forgive me, Kelria. I couldn't…contain myself."

The warmth of Serana's arms around her was intoxicating. Throughout their journey it had been so natural to be so close to the vampire. Yes, it was dangerous, and there were numerous times when she, deep inside, doubted if she had made a wise decision to bring about this black-haired woman, but it felt like it should be that way and may the world go to the Void but she wouldn't give up on the relation the two had formed. And the said relation was so vague, she couldn't apprehend what she felt for Serana. Was it just attraction that made her stand up for her and help her? Was it the fact that Serana entrusted her own life to Kelria? It was odd, and everything was confusing, and she'd rather fight thousands of ogres than to try and unravel the entangled ball of her feelings.

But her mind refused to work rationally, and since she had little control over her body due to her constantly treacherous mind, she moved her left hand from underneath the cape she was still wrapped in, and cupped Serana's pale, soft cheek before slowly leaning her head forward, her eyes now hesitatingly lowering from the amber pools.

"I think…" spoke Kelria in a tone no louder than a whisper. "I think we are apologizing too much recently."

"Someone promised I wouldn't get any more apologies…" Serana's voice sounded soft and Kelria could see a faint smile forming on the vampire's face, which then mimicked her own.

"Should I apologize for not keeping my promise?" Kelria leaned her head even more forward until their foreheads touched and her breath caressed the delicate, pale skin of the vampire. Receiving another faint smile as a response, she closed her eyes for a moment, before letting out a soft sigh and quietly asking.

"So my blood…It attracts you...Is it…Is it the only reason why you are still here with me?" The words sounded very cautious and broken, as if she was afraid of the answer she would get. She knew the question would only anger Serana and she closed her eyes to avoid the confused gaze.

The answer, on the contrary, was as soft as ever and her fears appeared void without any efforts of her trying to suppress them. "Don't ever think that…" She felt cold yet tender lips grazing the skin near her ear and it immediately sent shivers down her spine. "You are more than your blood, Kelria…"

Kelria wanted to pull back to look into Serana's eyes but she was stopped by soft lips pressing against her own. Her entire body was taken over by the overwhelming feeling of relief, combined with eccentric panic yet she finally released the block she had kept on the bond between herself and the vampire. There was a new sensation she'd never felt even with Aela, and she couldn't explain why. There was more to it yet it was indescribable. Her initial fears were being overwritten by the sudden desire to be close to Serana and she welcomed such a short distance between them.

Now she saw how the woman felt about her.

She answered the kiss with an equally tranquil motion of her lips. The arm which snaked around her own waist, gently brought her closer to the vampire's body and her free arm grasped Serana's in a tender hold, and she craved for more closness, but...

But it couldn't go on like this.

Such pleasnt caress of Serana's crimson lips against hers was making her more and more lightheaded and once again, anxiety started growing in her head, which made her end the kiss by slowly pulling back and placing her fingers over Serana's lips. She didn't know how the walls had shattered between them but if Kelria had nothing to surround herself with then she would be defenseless.

Her ocean-blue eyes stared into the ambers ones for a long moment; the tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife. She still kept her hand on the tenderness of Serana's face while her own neck was gently cupped and held close. A few moments had passed, which felt like hours, before Kelria broke the warm embrace and raised herself slowly to her feet, carefully so as to not disturb the wounds, unwrapping herself from the cape and leaving it on the ground before her own legs guided her out of the cave without letting her say a word. It was too much to handle.

Serana's eyes followed her every movement, but her body was still and motionless. When Kelria left, her own fingers unsurely touched her cool lips which were covered by the burning ones just a minute ago. What happened between her and the Dragonborn was something she couldn't explain even to herself. That sudden rush had taken control over her body and only now did it subside. And she didn't know whether that moment of affection had tethered Kelria to herself or pushed her back at an immense distance between them.

She felt the urge to go and check on Kelria, but knew that the girl needed more time alone than she did. With a bite on her lower lip, she picked her abandoned cape off the ground and clutched tightly, bringing it to her chest.

Suddenly she felt lonely.

* * *

 **A/N: Ahst laat - at last.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Everyone is here, now let us start."

General Tullius of the Imperial Legion spoke with his commanding voice as his eyes observed the people around the wide table which had a spread-out strategy battle map lay upon it, in the war room of Castle Dour. The eyes were focused either on the General himself or the map which had several small pins stuck into the map in the form of red and blue flags, insinuating the assemblage of Legion and Stormcloak armies respectively. A few papers lay in front of the General and he looked through them briefly before focusing on the task at hand.

He ran his rough hand through his short gray hair and gestured at the woman to his right, who was clad in the Imperial armor from head to toes and keeping her hand upon the helmet that she had put on the table on the vacant space that wasn't occupied by the map. Her dirty-blond hair and blue eyes adorned her head, and the appearance was complete with a massive body structure which spoke of her origin as a Nord. No doubt many men were willing to have such body and it was evident she was a fearless, strong and confident warrior, and there was no mistake about her being present at the gathering in Castle Dour.

"Legate Rikke. My second in command." stated the General.

The Legate gave one curt nod to the other people, and Tullius now gestured to another man that stood to the right of Rikke and who was garbed in the armor of Solitude guards.

"Captain Aldis. He is in charge of recruitment and training of the Legion within the borders of Haafingar."

Just like Rikke, he nodded at the introduction, letting a small lock of his dark brown hair fall down over his right eye and he tucked it behind his ear before his arms folded on his chest and one hand started gliding over the rough, thick beard.

"And here," continued the General, motioning towards two women to his left "are Aela, the Harbinger of the Companions in Whiterun, and Lydia, the Housecarl of the Dragonborn." After taking a moment to glance at Aela, meeting her gaze that had undoubtedly been lingering on his eyes all this time, he proceeded with his speech, placing his palms upon the table and leaning his body over it. "Now, as far as I understood, Jarl Elisif has intentions to aim attention at defending the lands from vampires, not only Haafingar, which is under enormous threat, but other holds as well." He then peeked at Aela, raising his eyebrow questionably. "Mind I remind you, that we are suffering war exhaustion. We don't have enough people to organize even more and bigger fronts than we currently have."

"You have a regular supply of forces, as far as I know." stated Aela, staring at Tullius and crossing her arms on her chest.

"Not anymore." responded Captain Aldis firmly and all eyes were directed to him. "We haven't received any more troops for over two months now."

Aela patiently waited for the explanation and looked to Rikke across the table when the Legate spoke.

"When we sent a word to the Emperor, asking for more hands, no response came. Neither did our messenger."

"Could it be that the Stormcloaks intercepted the message?" asked Lydia, looking at Tullius.

"Highly impossible." He loomed over the map and pointed his finger at Falkreath Province. "We have absolute control over this land, multiple scouts on the border and at the passageway to Cyrodiil. The road is safe and protected," he glided his finger over the map, forming a line that went from Southfringe Sanctum, to Helgen, to Riverwood and finally Whiterun, showing the exact path that the Imperial Legion always took to reach the destinations within Imperial lands. "all the way here and further."

"Did the messenger even reach the Imperial City?" Aela uttered, raising her eyebrow.

"Alas, we don't know that for sure." The General stood upright again and crossed his arms on his chest, mimicking Aela's posture. "We are cut off and in shortage of forces. That's why we can't wage two wars at once."

"Does _anyone_ cross the border from Cyrodiil to Skyrim at all?" the Huntress's voice started to sound more irritated and her firm gaze was that of steel.

"No." answered Legate Rikke with a shake of her head.

"What the _fuck_ is happening there then?"

"Aela." Lydia touched Aela's arm slightly and gave her a look that suggested the redhead to calm down.

The woman clenched her fists and let out a deep sigh, before speaking again with a slightly less annoyed tone.

"Okay. What _in Oblivion_ is happening there?"

"No one knows." answered Tullius. "But since a year ago we have been spotting groups of Thalmor traveling back and forth from Skyrim to Hammerfell and Cyrodiil. Their appearances were so frequent, it caught our attention. We weren't and aren't to engage them. Gods know how many of my men I'll lose if we focus on the Thalmor too. The Emperor gave them the safe passage long ago, so we are supposed to do nothing but ignore them. The point is, we found a person who keeps track of their movement within Skyrim and Cyrodiil, but she refused to give out any information, referring to the Dragonborn's delirious actions."

"What does it even mean?" asked Lydia, frowning.

"She says she is with the Blades. I think it explains everything."

"And what the fuck does she want in exchange?" Aela rolled her eyes.

"To speak with the Dragonborn, I wager." responded Legate Rikke.

"Tough luck, she wants too much. Tell her to wait until the Dragonborn blesses her with her own presence. Let's go back to the start." Aela straightened up and walked closer to Tullius' side, stopping when she reached the corner of the map. She placed her finger over the place north of Northwatch Keep and made a small circular motion, indicating the area. "Here. The headquarters of the vampires. Castle Volkihar, according to the Dragonborn. There is someone called Lord Harkon that wants to obtain a certain Elder Scroll. That's why Skyrim is crawling with the fucking bloodsuckers."

"This is not our territory. The Tower belongs to the Thalmor. But how does the Dragonborn know all this?" asked Captain Aldis, his eyebrows knitting together.

Aela hesitated for a moment.

"Because her new _friend_ is one of those...Volkihar crazy-eyes." She spat.

General Tullius let out a quiet hum and looked through the papers in front of him. He scanned through each, seemingly trying to find the one he was looking for. Finally he held up a small roll of paper that was a bit torn in some places and offered it to Aela.

"My spies found this in the streets of Windhelm and brought to me this morning. It was a very fast ride, I might say. I am interested in every bounty laid in the Stormcloaks lands, but this particular one caught my attention. I was hoping it wasn't her, but I assume you know better."

The Huntress snatched the paper from the General's hands. Her war-painted face expressed little as she was reading through the words; only a watchful eye could see a small flaring of her nostrils.

 _Attention, citizens of Eastmarch, The Pale, Winterhold and the Rift._

 _By order of Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak,_

 _To all able bodied men and women. The Human female - blue eyes, blond hair shoulder length, pale skin, donned in dark gray studded armor, possessing a steel sword – and her accomplice, a vampire female, – pale skin, eyes of fire, dark hair, hooded and wearing dark-red leather armor, possessing two daggers – are wanted dead or alive for heinous deeds and assorted crimes against the good people of the Rift._

 _A generous reward will be offered to anyone who kills or captures both of them, once the identities are established._

 _Last seen in the vicinity of Ivarstead, the Rift._

 _All questions are to be directed to Torben Bone-Breaker of the Rift Guards, Riften._

 _-Steward Jorlief._

Aela placed the document on the table, pressing it down with her palm and clenching her jaw in invisible frustration. ' _No day without getting in trouble, Kelria',_ she thought _. 'What the fuck did you get yourself into now?'_

"It is her." grumbled Aela aloud. "But no one knows it is the Dragonborn. Only few people know how the Dragonborn looks like, she always tried to stay as invisible as possible. But if Ulfric recognizes her, that will be fucked up."

She crumpled the paper in her hands and threw it on the floor beside her. "When was it issued?"

"Four days ago." answered the General.

"Four days…She is probably still there. I hope she knows what she's doing." muttered Aela under her breath. "In any case, we know that Harkon is behind all these attacks. And most of them are happening in Whiterun and Eastmarch. Is it possible to join the forces with Jarl Idgrod? Hjaalmarch here is the closest Hold and is a potential threat to the vampires, and if we make a line of camps throughout these lands, we'll be able to cut off the vampire movements from and to Castle Volkihar."

General Tullius rubbed his trim beard of dry texture for a moment. "Legate Rikke, what's the situation in the Pale? You came back from there two days ago."

"There was a Stormcloak camp near Ustengrav." the Nord woman spoke up. " My people succeeded in drawing them away into the Pale. Hjaalmarch is clear for now. But the borders should be watched."

"Good. I will send a message to Jarl Idgrod to spare her guards to join in establishing camps around the waters. We have enough people for four camps to be set up across the Hold. Rikke, you will administrate the process."

The Legate nodded. "Yes, General."

"Captain, the latest wave of recruits is supposed to come from Falkreath soon. Not that large amount. Still better than nothing, as we won't be provided with veterans any time soon, I believe. You have two weeks to prepare the recruits."

"Will be done, General Tullius."

The General now turned to Aela, remaining silent for a moment as if trying to conjure a question, appropriate enough to be spoken.

"What of the Companions?"

"What of them?" Aela stared back, narrowing her eyes.

"You seem eager to participate in the wars, but you're not supposed to."

Aela slowly leaned over the table with her hands pressed against the wooden surface, her gray-blue eyes gazing into the General's with tension, and voice making stress on every syllable.

" _I_ decide what I am supposed to do. The Companions will defend Whiterun at all costs. _I_ will defend Skyrim from the vampires and Ulfric, and follow the Dragonborn's orders until the moment of my death. No one should question my intentions. Is that clear, General?"

All eyes were focused on the Huntress, tension rising up, complete with uncomfortable silence after her words.

The General merely heaved a sigh and nodded once. "As you wish."

"Good." Aela slowly pulled back, standing upright, and looked around the gathered people in silence.

"As I said, we have two weeks to train the recruits. According to the reports, Ulfric is concentrating his forces near Dawnstar. It will be our chance to destroy most of his army by laying siege on the Hold Capital. We shall discuss the next strategy in Morthal, in three weeks, on the 18th of Sun's Height. I expect all of you, except for Aldis, to be there." Tullius placed his hands on his sides, turning to Aela and Lydia. "It's about time we deal a huge blow on the Stormcloak scum. The aid of Jarl Balgruuf's forces would be most required."

"You'll get it." shortly responded Aela. "Don't fuck this up, General."

Tullius inhaled deeply, his expression spoke of the exertion of having to deal with that redheaded walking curse. He averted his gaze to the map, then observed the people around the table, and nodded.

"Dismissed."

* * *

The air outside the cave was fresh and slightly frosty; the grass was covered in crystal clear dew and a small fog spread over a small pond. Everything was silent and calm, and Kelria thought that this place was the only peaceful patch of land inside the bitter world that was reigned by strife and constant war. Not once had she thought about what it would be like to live in a world without conflicts and surrounded with serenity. Was that even possible?

As if.

She sat on the beach that formed a tiny cliff around the pond, and her boots were barely touching the water. Absent-mindedly, with slow movements, she was eating some edible berries that she had collected. It was odd, she thought, that she didn't even touch whatever Serana had brought to her earlier in the cave, but it simply didn't feel right to go back there. Not now.

After a few minutes of musing on her thoughts, she felt an ache starting to form in her stomach. Quietly groaning, she helplessly lay down on her back and looked at the clouded sky, trying not to think of the unpleasant pain that grew more and more irking. Food deprivation had apparently taken its toll on her and she didn't even know where they were, and even more so where to go. Back to the very start, she thought.

"You never listen to me, do you?" Kelria heard the vampire's soft voice a few feet from her. "I should have force-fed you when I had the chance."

"Ughh not now." Grumbling, Kelria turned to her side and hid her head in her crook of her elbow while her other hand clutched tightly at the fabric over her stomach. She spoke after a few instants, her voice sounding muffled. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere west to Riften, I think."

"What?!" Kelria swiftly raised her head to see Serana sitting down beside her and looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. "You carried me all the way through the Canyon?"

Serana's small smile covered her face and she shrugged her shoulder casually. "Even when I am injured, I am still faster and stronger than you are."

"Uh huh."

"Did that sound like a challenge?" Serana's smile reached her eyes but then it faltered when she saw Kelria wincing and hiding her face in her arm again. She let the silence linger for a minute before speaking again. "I will go hunt, so that you had at least something proper to eat."

"Serana." Kelria called out to her calmly when the vampire began to stand up. She paused for a while, raising her eyes to look at the older woman and slowly sitting up. "I think we should talk. About… a lot of things. Things that I can't hide anymore."

Serana sent the Dragonborn a worried look. She bit her lip for a moment, cautiously looking around them before descending on the ground again on her knees and turned to the other girl who crossed her legs beneath her.

Kelria let out a deep sigh, taking a full minute to gather her thoughts while nervously fiddling with her own fingers.

"Back at the Fort," she started quietly, "I had another nightmare. Not like any others, it was way too vivid. There was so much terror, dread and…" She paused, sighing and looking down at the small pond before her, her eyes conveying the troubled state of her mind. "…I was the cause of all that. My…my dovah was."

Serana leaned forward a bit and carefully, in a gentle manner, place her hand upon the younger woman's shoulder. "Your dragon?"

"I can feel him. Or her. No matter. Sheogorath showed me what would become of the world if the dragon broke free." Kelria uttered quietly and closed her eyes, as she went back to her memories of the nightmare, every detail still haunting her mind as if that scene was commencing right in front of her.

"Sheogorath? The Daedric Prince?"

Kelria nodded briefly. "I probably sound insane now. What an irony."

"Kelria…"

"No one else knows about my nightmares. Except for… Aela." The girl opened her eyes again and looked into Serana's, swallowing the expanding lump in her throat. "They were the reasons why I left her, a long while ago. The closer we got, the more vivid my dreams would become, and…and I already had a feeling that her lying dead before me in every nightmare was my doing."

She then dropped her gaze and looked at her hands covered in scratches. "Little did I know that the nightmares wouldn't stop even after my leaving."

The vampire's eyes were filled with sympathy and sorrow and if only she knew how to bring comfort to Kelria, she would without any thought take the chance. But all she found suitable was to tenderly squeeze Kelria's shoulder, relieved that the Dragonborn still didn't flinch away from the touch. "When did you start having them?"

"After defeating Alduin. When you said that I could read the Elder Scroll, my response wasn't a lie, Serana. I can't. I hardly remember the fight with Alduin. It felt like my mind was somewhere else. At the Throat of the World, I recall taking the Scroll, I could see the letters, but everything was blurred and I couldn't understand what was happening." She felt Serana's hand tightening the hold on her shoulder. "I was weak to the point I couldn't stand on my feet. It's like my body was possessed and now I know by whom…I remember using a Shout and hearing Alduin's roar, then…nothing." She paused for a moment, letting out a sigh. "Same happened in Sovngarde."

"You…you were in Sovngarde?"

"Long story. It wasn't me fighting Alduin. It was my dragon inside me. Its…Its name is Kheiira. In my dream, Alduin said 'Ahst laat, Kheiira'. I think he knew he was fighting my dragon back there, not…me." She looked at Serana, and the latter noticed a tiny glimpse of wetness in the blue eyes. "Serana, I will be the enemy of the whole world, more powerful than these vampires or Alduin, and…"

"Kelria, stop." She felt Serana's hands on both her shoulders now, the touch was firm yet tender at the same time, just like the vampire's voice. "You will not. You are strong enough to tame the dragon inside you, even if you can't do it now, you will learn. Your mind, Kelria, is even stronger than your body. Believe me when I say it."

Kelria shook her head slowly, staring at one spot in Serana's collarbone, but it was clear she didn't even see Serana as her gaze seemed distant and absent.

"There is only one way to get rid of this threat." She murmured quietly.

Serana's amber eyes gradually widened at the words, and she swiftly grabbed Kelria's collar with one hand and the other cupped the girl's chin, turning the Nordic pale face to her own. "Only the weak choose the easiest path. Think about those who care about you."

"Think about millions of people, Serana!" She tries to pull back but the hold on her was fairly strong.

"Self-sacrifice would only be selfish here. You are the Dragonborn, Kelria. Now act like one."

She sounds like Aela, thought Kelria. Such determination and hope could be seen in her eyes, and there is that familiar feeling of comfort when they're being so close.

But suddenly something clicked in her head.

"Paarthurnax…"

"What?"

"He knew."

"What do you mean?" Serana asked with a softer voice, releasing her grip on Kelria, and failing to resist the urge of prolonging the touch, she placed her hand upon the Dragonborn's arm.

"He knew what happened to me at the Throat of the World. He was there!"

"So he lied?"

"I vaguely remember his presence." She winced at trying to dig deep into her memories, her own head dropping only to be supported by her palms with elbows pressing against her knees. "He must have seen me using the Scroll and he lied!"

"Why…why would he do that? You said he was your old friend."

"Well, he's not my fucking enemy!" Kelria growled. "Yet."

"Do you think he is…afraid of you?" Serana spoke in a tone no louder than a whisper, worriedly looking down at the girl before her.

"He must have known I couldn't remember anything, that's why he didn't mention any of this. Is he envious of the power I can have? I don't know, but I can't find any other decent explanation to this."

"But I was right. You _can_ read the Elder Scroll." A small smile, full of hopefulness, formed on the pale, flawless face of the vampire.

"Doesn't change the fact that I can go fucking blind, Serana. That time, it was only luck. I would rather die, but hey you won't let me do even that." Kelria grumbled and turned away from Serana.

Serana's smile faded and her eyebrows furrowed. The two women let a short while of uncomfortable silence settle between them before the older one spoke again.

"I'm sorry, Kelria, but-"

"We have to get back. I don't know if Aela and Lydia are already in Solitude, but we have to join them. We need to weaken your father first, and then care about the Scroll. Then we'll find a fucking priest, even if I'll have to dig one from a grave."

"We've gone through so much trouble just for you to change your mind and cross the whole Skyrim again?" Serana asked softly, but her eyes conveyed bewilderment.

Kelria clenched her teeth and stood up, causing the vampire to do the same and almost growling. "Well, I'm fucking sorry that this whole time I couldn't remember shit about what happened almost eight months ago, just because I share body, mind and soul with a fucking dragon who, as it turns out, can destroy this shitty world-"

"Kelria, please…"

"- and all these fucking people!" Kelria almost yelled. " Plans change, Serana! I'm sorry but I never chose to bear the burden of being a Dragonborn which is a piece of skeever's shit! You don't know and you will never know how hard it is to live as one, it makes me more insane with each second of my fucking li-"

Her speech was cut off abruptly when she felt Serana's mouth suddenly come crashing against her own, terminating any more words that would come out from her mouth and making her moan out the last syllable of the unfinished word against Serana's cold yet soft lips. She inhaled sharply through her nose, involuntarily closing her eyes, and struggled not to return the kiss until after a few moments later, when she finally gave in to the temptation with a clash of her lips against the tender ones of the older woman, feeling her heart starting to beat twice faster and tingles surging through her veins. The feeling of Serana's hands cupping both sides of her face made her weak in knees and hadn't the vampire pressed herself closer up against Kelria, the latter would have promptly fallen down.

It was wrong. It was wrong on so many levels.

She needed her words to get into Serana's head. After a few seconds, forcing herself to pull back, and stopping merely a few inches away from the woman's face, without opening her eyes, she uttered weakly and quietly as the kiss had taken all her breath away. "I wish there was another fucking way, but I swear we'll stop those fuckers, Se-"

"I know." was all she managed to hear in the small space between them before in a sudden instant Serana's cold lips found her own burning ones yet again.

It would be impossible to resist even if her life depended on it. There was no hesitation now, as if all the movements were perfectly natural. Kelria's right hand moving to tangle in Serana's raven-black hair, while her other hand found its place on the vampire's waist. There was this suffocating closeness, and it was burning Kelria's lungs while the rest of her body was engulfed by the cold feeling of Serana's touch and presence. But she yearned for it. She needed the serene comfort when she was so distant from her lover and so close to this very woman who made her shiver with each touch of the cool pale skin.

Yes, she was cheating. She was cheating on the redheaded lover that was at an immense distance from her, but each time the thought tried to slip in her mind, it was blocked by the feeling of Serana's gentle lips brushing against her own. Caught up in the moment of lust, she hardly cared. There was nothing she could do; she was stripped of any chance to resist by her own passion. The kiss turned heated, bodies pressed closer and it felt like the vampire was the only thing she could hold on to in this world.

Kelria felt the older woman suddenly breaking the kiss and leaned forward to prolong it, only to be stopped by one finger against her lips, akin to the same gesture she performed back in the cavern. It was the first time in a very long while she heard Serana inhaling sharply.

"You're bleeding…" Her voice sounded faint yet full of concern to the point it made Kelria open her eyes and look down at the dark-red spot glistening over the bandage on her left side. She hadn't noticed nor felt the renewed pain in the heat of passion.

Pulling back from the embrace, she raised her eyes to look into Serana's that were ignited like twin fires when they were looking at her bloodied cloth.

"S-Serana…Please give me your dagger." uttered Kelria weakly, outstretching her hand.

She couldn't miss the tremor in Serana's hand when it was unsheathing one of her daggers and slowly extending it to Kelria, hilt first, and the girl accepted it with mild hesitation.

Serana stepped back, and it was visible how her eyes made a huge effort to avert her gaze from the wound and within a moment she was seen slowly walking off, but not before she managed to audibly say "I'll hunt. Before departure."

Kelria still felt the burning sensation on her lips and made an absent-minded motion of her tongue, flickering over her own lower lip to savor the lingering taste of the vampire. It was so intoxicating and overwhelming to be around the dark-haired woman and she felt it was only a matter of time before she let her lust out completely if she didn't hold herself back with all her force.

She let a small fire form in her free hand, after conjuring a relevant spell. It was a weak flame due to her lack of strength and proper teachings as a Nord, but it would suffice, when she brought the dagger up to the flame and held it there until it was red-hot and the hilt radiated the heat around itself.

She inhaled deeply.

Self-treatment had never been her best suit.

No one could hear the stifled groan of pain in the vicinity. And probably for the better.

* * *

 **A/N: If you like the story, please don't hesitate to leave a feedback and/or follow the story. Thanks to all those who still reads it, even if you think it's messed up ^-^  
Also, for all you Skyrim lovers, check out the story called "Songs of Skyrim" by Fluffybutt0ns and experience the tough, realistic life of mortals throughout the events commencing in Skyrim. The author is an amazing writer who just started their own story, so don't hesitate to look it up. :)  
Cheers !**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews !**  
 **FluffyButt0ns: *Keeps on rolling, rolls somewhere into Oblivion and gets lost* Thanks for the reviews. :3 When I keep telling you that my chapters are going to very short, I mean they must be at least 2-3k words. Buuuuut guess they're not, so don't listen to me.**

 **Freddy: No, thank you ! And I love the fact that you love the story !**

 **maritrevisans: Thank you so much for the reviews ! It really melts my heart to know that you will accompany me on this journey, 'always reading and reviewing', it really means a lot to me. I take it you like F!DB/Serana, hmm ? I mean who doesn't, right ?**

 **JimmyHall24: *Gasps* Bah ! Was supposed to be a secret !**

 **Also, in previous chapters the timeline was a bit messed up, so now the scenes in Solitude and Riften happen at the same time. Just an info.**

 **Hope you enjoy the chapter !**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

She brought up the sword to her eye level horizontally to the floor. Palms serving as a support, one for the fairly long, slim blade made of ebony, which had exquisite design of swirls and lines along the surface, the other for the elegant, wooden hilt wrapped in a dark brown, high-quality boar hide. The dark blade reflected the light radiating from the candles around the room, even though the reflection was vague and dimmed. The sword had a narrow, warped cross-guard, adding just enough weight to make sure the blade sat firmly in the owner's hand, as well as protecting it. It had an intricate, decorative ornament on each side: a face of a human and a dragon merging together in one head. Akatosh, the God of Time.

That sword was not to be wielded by a mere commoner. It was meant only for one certain person, judging by the elaborate design.

The corners of Aela's scarlet lips twitched in a satisfied smile.

Even though the eloquent work did not belong to notable to many Eorlund Gray-Mane or Adrianne Avenicci - remarkable blacksmiths in Whiterun - Jarl Elisif definitely had one that could rival them both. What mattered most was that it left Aela quite impressed, which was always hard to accomplish.

A sudden knock on the door made the Huntress's face, free of war-paint, distort with a frown, erasing any trace of the smile. It couldn't have been Lydia, for she had gone to fetch her own things from the blacksmith not long ago. It was closing in on midnight, and Aela only grew cautious as she sheathed the sword carefully into a newly made leather scabbard and placed it on the wooden table in the middle of the kitchen.

Having left the bow propped against the cupboard by the nearest wall, in her possession she had only her steel dagger, on which she placed her palm guardedly. A woman like her should always be aware of any danger. Her legs hastily guided her down to the first floor as the knocks on the door resumed for two or three times more and they were getting on her nerves.

She opened the door quickly and barely eluded a fist coming at her face.

"I'm sorry!" the man said apologetically as he lowered his hand to his side. "The door opened unexpectedly."

"Uh huh," responded Aela with irritation. "Lucky for you, you're not someone else. Otherwise you would have to knock without your hands next time. What do you want, Steward Falk?"

"To talk, Lady Aela. I thought you and Lydia would have to know." said Falk.

"Really? It's almost midnight." growled Aela in a low tone. The wolf inside her stirred in annoyance. "Come in, and make it quick. Though Lydia hasn't returned yet."

The Steward nodded in thanks and came inside before he followed the Huntress up the stairs. Aela cleared out the table, re-placing the sword on the vacant space of the cupboard which didn't go unnoticed by Falk.

"Impressive blade." he raised his eyebrows.

Aela grabbed a chair and positioned in a reversed manner, so that when she sat down she rested her arms on its back and faced the ginger-bearded man with her gray-blue eyes gazing into his impatiently.

"Cut to the chase."

"Right." Falk shifted in his own chair and placed his elbows upon the table. "I think something is going on here."

Aela looked around, inspecting the room with a quirked eyebrow. "Definitely."

"Not here! In the Palace. Four days ago after that meeting, there are these hushed conversations going around. Not once have I seen General Tullius speaking with some shady people and I mostly could make out the names of Elisif, Dragonborn and Ulfric." Falk's voice turned low as if afraid of being overheard.

The woman stared at him in silence for a moment before letting out an unenthusiastic "So?"

"So! I believe there are some plotlines being weaved behind the Jarl's back."

"Then go and inform the Jarl's front." Aela rolled her eyes.

Falk sighed and leaned closer over the table. "She will not listen to me. She would rather trust the General than me, and she will ignore my concerns, or even worse, tell him about them."

"And what do I have to do with this?" asked the Huntress.

"Maybe you can pry something out? I can't lose my reputation and dignity by being caught spying on the General and his business."

"And you're implying that I'm okay with losing mine? Find someone else, for fuck's sake." Aela gritted her teeth and stood up.

"No, please!" Falk rose to his feet quickly. "Aela… If you happen to know something or if you see something out of the ordinary, be swift to tell me."

She sighed. "Who are these 'shady people'?"

"I know only two of them. Vlaren Fulcer and Marcus Accon. Vlaren is one the General's couriers. Tullius spoke to him about something related to Windhelm but I couldn't hear clearly. Marcus is a retired elite guard; he used to have close ties with Tullius, closer than Legate Rikke. What business might the General have with him, I can't understand."

"You're so fucking paranoid." Aela crossed arms on her chest.

"I might be. Marcus usually hangs out in the tavern. And Vlaren…He might have left the city already, I don't know." Falk looked expectantly in Aela's eyes and sighed. "That is if you want to try and speak to them."

Another knock echoed through the house from the first floor with a few impatient thuds. Aela clicked her tongue and inhaled deeply to keep her mind and composure cool. She descended down the stairs with the Steward in tow. Her posture spoke of her gradually losing her temper. Nothing new.

She opened the wooden door and stared at the man in front of her, clad in the armor of Solitude guards and with a torch in one hand. "Lady Aela the Huntress of the Companions?"

"What do you need?"

"We found your… friend. A dark-haired woman? You must come quick."

The wolf within wrenched at her stomach, forming an unpleasant knot inside, and she failed to suppress a low growl. _"Leave the house!"_ The sound of her shout rang around the house, urging both men to leave as she stepped outside and followed the soldier speedily.

* * *

Kelria drew the hood over her head. In the woods they had emptied a small camp off the bandits and some of their belongings. Most of the work had been done by Serana to the girl's indignation but at least the vampire had managed to feed enough and even find small empty vials which she then had used to gather the bandits' blood. Not like they could have protested.

At least now Kelria had some proper clothes on, a cloak with a hood which concealed her head and torso, along with the injuries that were still recovering. A simple sword was hanging from her waist but at least she had something to defend herself with, finding Serana's dagger way out of her comfort zone. She still couldn't understand how that older woman even fought with two daggers, but as long as she could fight and not get hurt, Kelria didn't care much on that matter.

And now, back to where they had come from, they were once again nearing Riften at midnight and the mere thought of smelling the stench it was in made Kelria sick. She just wanted to get it over with, and they needed a transport, as soon as possible. A thought of summoning Odahviing slipped in her mind but she put it away. It was too risky, for both her and his sake.

"Halt!" came a voice from ahead of them, as a Riften guard warned them with a stopping gesture of his hand while his other hand held a lit torch.

The women did nothing but comply.

"Remove your hoods."

"What, you're allowed to wear a helmet in this cold, and we can't even cover ourselves with a hood?" asked Kelria and looked at him quizzically.

Serana stood next to her, looking everywhere but at the guard.

"We have orders to check everyone who comes to the city. Don't waste my time; I want to get off this damn shift already."

Kelria sighed and slowly pulled down the hood, and Serana followed the suit.

The guard drew his sword and pointed at them both. "By the order of the Jarl, you are under arrest!"

"The fuck are you talking about?" Kelria growled, making no move towards her own sword but she saw Serana placing a hand on one of the daggers in the corner of her eye.

"You both match the description of the bounty laid on you! And you, vampire," the guard turned to Serana and snarled "better not put up a fight!"

Kelria inhaled deeply. She really didn't want to fight and all she actually wished for is to flee the damned place.

Serana remained stoic, however, waiting for Kelria's next actions.

"Hey, how about I give you some money and you never saw us?"

The Guard looked at Kelria skeptically and narrowed his eyes. "Do I look like I can be bribed?! Hand over your weapons!"

"Yes, you actually do." The girl reached with her hand under the cloak and retrieved a coin purse of a considerable size, shaking it for a moment so that the coins jingled inside.

The Guard hesitated.

"How much?"

Thank the Divines for those generous bandits they had come across earlier.

"How much do you want it to be?" asked Kelria.

"Better be decent. I've got a family to feed, and this duty pays me some skeever's shit." the man lowered his weapon and looked expectantly at the girl.

"Two hundred septims and we were never here."

"Fine. But this vampire," he nodded at Serana "can't let her just walk away."

Kelria growled. "But I can let her suck all the blood out of you, so take the fucking money and leave us be. We won't cause any trouble."

Serana smirked and pulled her hood over her head.

After a few moments of hesitation, the guard grunted lowly but stepped aside. "Get out of here before I changed my mind."

Kelria sighed in relief and returned her own hood on its place it had been before, handing the purse over to the guard. _What a fucker._

"I guess I am not surprised about the bounty. That Stormcloak sucker had apparently taken my offer seriously and whined about us to Ulfric. On the other hand … I actually feel flattered." snorted Kelria as they walked past the gates and took a turn towards the nearest tavern.

"You do like pissing half of Skyrim off, don't you?" Serana nudged her side with a smile.

"Only half? Oh no, dear, much much more." Kelria pretended to tense her brain and squinted her eyes in concentration. "Let's see… Imperials, Stormcloaks, Dawnguard, the Blades, the Thalmor, the Forsworn, dragons and skeevers, not taking into account the daedra and dremora. Yep, pretty much the whole Skyrim and Oblivion."

Serana shook her head, issuing it with a roll of her eyes. "I am travelling with a walking target."

Kelria smirked. "Admit that it's fun."

"Yes, seeing you lying half-dead is very fun." murmured Serana.

Kelria huffed and, without attracting any attention of the patrolling guards, led the vampire to The Bee and Barb inn. Lots of noise was heard even out in the street. She had expected the inn to be quieter at midnight but Riften was Riften.

They opened the door and walked in into a drunken commotion as loud voices and conversation were held inside, and one voice assiduously tried to outcry another. No one seemed to pay any attention to them and Kelria moved to the Argonian barkeeper who broke into a smile at the sight of the girl by baring his teeth.

"Kelria, my friend! Long time no see. How's life?"

Serana only smiled at the Argonian and carefully started to look around with her eyes, leaving the conversation to the Dragonborn.

"Talen, good to see you." Kelria's lips stretched out in a broad smile. "Well, you know, life's boring, as usual."

"Same, same. Can't wait to leave the city forever. My wife and I just can't stand Riften anymore. But alas, stuck here for who knows how long." Talen sighed and his smile faded as he started to clean mugs and goblets with a cloth.

Kelria fell silent for a while, drumming her fingers upon the counter as she tried to come up with something before realization hit her. "I might have an idea on how to help you, but Talen, I need a favor in return." Kelria turned her voice down so as to not let them be overheard.

The barkeeper raised his head at her and froze, anticipating what the girl had in mind. "Anything you want, Kelria. You helped me a lot in the past, it would only be fair for me to repay you."

She nodded. "I know you have a carriage, right?" Talen gave her a nod and she continued. "I need to borrow it for a while. I promise I will return it back."

The Argonian seemed to hesitate as he fidgeted on the spot and looked around. "Hmmm. For how long?"

"I don't know yet. A few weeks. But I will send someone to return it for me. As for that idea. You'll just have to wait until the carriage arrives back and be sure to pack all the things you need, and tell your wife that you both are going to leave Riften soon. Deal?"

"Oh, Kelria." Talen heaved a sigh of relief and nodded vigorously. "Thank you, thank you so much! Keerava!" He called out to an Argonian female who was serving the customers their beverages. "Come here, my love."

Keerava smiled fondly first at her husband and then at Kelria with the companion. "Hello Kelria, I'm glad to see you back. And Kelria's friend, you are most welcome here." Serana greeted her back in return, with a sweet smile. " Talen, what's the matter, my dear?"

"Kelria and her friend need our carriage borrowed. Could you please see to it at the stables? Wake the driver up, I hope he hasn't got drunk yet, that fool."

"Of course, my love."

"Serana?" Kelria turned to her friend. "Can you help Keerava? I will join you soon."

Serana's smile turned into a fond one, and she leaned in towards Kelria's cheek to place a soft kiss on the younger woman's Nordic skin. "Of course."

"Be careful." Kelria whispered softly with a small blush covering her cheeks and squeezed the vampire's arm gently before the two women left and Kelria was alone with Talen, who chuckled at her.

"A friend, hmm?"

"Yeah…" Light embarrassment seized Kelria and she cleared her throat hoping it would help to cool down her flushed cheeks . "Talen do you have any bounty contracts by any chance? Just…need to take a look, is all."

Talen pointed at a board embedded in the wall to his right, with many papers pinned into it. "All there. I will prepare some food to take with you."

"Thank you." said Kelria and walked up to the bounty board. Her eyes started to run over each bounty until they settled onto one and her heart sank down to her stomach.

So Serana was being hunted too, after all. She sighed, and shook her head. At least not many people knew who Kelria actually was. Little did she know, when she heard a voice behind her.

"I told you not to return to the city."

Kelria rolled her eyes and turned around.

"What, scared of me, Maven?"

The dark-haired human, garbed in fine, quilted clothes unlike most people in Riften, glared at Kelria with a disdainful look.

"I knew it was you in the bounty, Dragonborn. And you just confirmed my guesses."

"Listen, you fuckface. It can be anyone, but not me." Kelria gritted her teeth.

"You're a shitty liar. If it wasn't you, you wouldn't act now like you were caught red-handed." Maven Black-Briar smirked. "You better start kissing Ulfric's ass now."

"Sorry, I don't want to follow your steps." Kelria started walking towards the bar where Talen had already prepared a small rucksack for her and placed it on the counter, but a strong hand caught her arm and she glared back at the woman.

"What, not going to stop me from informing the guards?"

"If that's what you do to gain your fucking authority in the city, then be my guest. I don't give a shit." Kelria broke her hand out of the hold.

"Heh. Catching you right now is no fun. I'll just savor the fact that you are going to be hunted down throughout the whole Skyrim." said Maven.

"Story of my life. Go lick Jarl Laila's ass." Kelria gave the other woman a rude gesture with her finger before walking to the counter and taking the rucksack in her hands. "Thanks Talen, I appreciate it."

"Safe travel, Kelria. May the Hist guide you." the Argonian nodded at Kelria with a smile.

The Dragonborn cast a last glance at Maven who for some reason was smirking at her. She already knew what that Black-Briar was going to do, and she had to get out of the city, the sooner the better.

* * *

"Lydia!" Aela called out to the woman, who was lying motionlessly near the bushes next to the narrow road and surrounded by three Solitude guards looming over her.

Aela's heart started racing like a horse as she neared the group and forcefully shoved away one man to get closer to Lydia, hurriedly kneeling down beside her.

The smell of blood hit her like a hammer.

The woman's stomach was covered in blood, and when Aela's shaking hand touched the bloodied armor, the red liquid coated her palm and glistened in the light of the torches. Aela growled in a low tone and clenched her jaw. Lydia was unmoving, lying still with her eyes closed.

"Lydia. Stay with me." Aela urged and moved her other hand to the Housecarl's neck to check pulse, then leaning her own head to the brunette's chest with her ear touching the place where Lydia's heart would be.

The Huntress closed her eyes for an instant and let out a deep sigh of relief.

She spotted a small note lying beside Lydia's arm. The paper was partially covered in blood but Aela managed to make out the words.

 _Next time I won't be gentle. You know where to find me, Dragonborn._

 _-D_

"What the fuck are you waiting for?!" she barked at the guards who stood there bewildered. "Warn your Captain! And you," she stared at Falk who had followed them, "tell Elisif what happened. She's alive, thankfully."

The Guards and the Steward left hastily while Aela hid the note in her armor and carefully lifted Lydia's helpless body up.

She threw the words at the man who had led her here. "Come with me. Now."

She started her swift run towards the Temple of the Divines with the guard in tow, and Lydia in her arms, the smell of fresh blood filling her sensitive nostrils, serving as intoxication.

"Who did this?" she growled.

"We didn't see. One of the guards found her when she was still conscious."

"Then find the fuck out!" yelled Aela, making the man flinch.

"We…We will try." he murmured.

"Why was she without her sword? Her scabbard is empty."

"It lay a few feet away, no blood was on it."

Aela wanted to punch someone, anyone.

They came closer to the Temple and she nodded at her escort. "You stay here on watch."

* * *

"Is she going to be alright?" asked Aela.

"She is. Fear not, I will take care of her." answered Priestess Freir. "Good thing I stayed up late today."

Lydia lay in bed inside the quarters of the Temple while Freir tended to her injury. And yet still, the Housecarl hadn't regained consciousness, which made Aela restlessly pace around the room.

"What weapon was it?" asked Aela, trying to sound as composed as possible.

"It does seem like it was a knife. Sharp and narrow. Yet it doesn't look like it has touched any vital organs, so she will be fine."

"I will stay the night. If you need any help, just say."

"No need, my dear. My acolyte will help me, come the morning. Your friend is in good hands, I am sure of it." the priestess smiled fondly at Aela, still engrossed with the task of treating Lydia's wounds, but not even that could calm the Huntress down.

She sat down on another bed next to the one Lydia was lying on, and retrieved the note she had hidden in her armor before. Taking a look at the words again, she clenched her teeth bitterly. _Kelria will lose her shit_.

* * *

"That barkeeper was very sweet to you." Serana smiled softly as she was seated next to Kelria in a covered carriage. They could only look at the disappearing city and the girl hoped she would never see it again.

"And generous." Kelria pointed at the rucksack full of food that stood on the opposite bench.

"Something tells me you won't even touch it." murmured Serana when she moved herself closer to the Dragonborn until she could place her pale hand onto Kelria's arm.

"Hey, might I remind you, after eating that rabbit you'd hunted for me, I threw up twice back there." Kelria shivered. "Ergh."

"That was your fault you hadn't eaten for so long. Don't take it out on me." remarked Serana and received an eye roll from Kelria.

"Fine."

Kelria turned her head to the road as it unrolled behind them, the Moon and sky surveyed it cloudless and the wind tossed the tree boughs above it. It was very narrow – so narrow that only one carriage could drive over it without falling into the small ditch which ran along each side.

Several minutes had passed before the silence was covered by Kelria who proceeded to adore the nature unraveling to their right.

"The Moon is… captivating." spoke Kelria softly.

Serana smiled, looking not over the road or trees, fields or skies, but at Kelria's profile illuminated by the moonlight, as it was her wont whenever Kelria mentioned any object she descried afar, all with an expression almost longing for the blue eyes to look into hers. Even though Serana had a quicker vision, she seemed to think that the secret of Kelria's own eagle acuteness might be read in her ocean-blue irises, or rather, she only sought guidance by the direction of those discriminating and brilliant spheres.

"It is."

Serana then cleared her throat for a moment before she continued.

"Kelria…Maybe…Maybe it is time we should talk about…us. Since we are… finally left at peace, right now."

She saw the girl withdrawing her gaze and lowering her head and instantly knew that the topic would make Kelria uncomfortable. She didn't want to press the subject but Kelria did it for her.

"I don't know what to say. I am confused." whispered the blond-haired girl, shaking her head. The reluctance on her face struck Serana as unwillingness to even look into her companion's eyes.

"I shouldn't have…done what I did back in the cave, Kelria. Only now I realized that I am in the way between you and Aela. You don't have to choose. You already chose her long time ago." Sadness was clearly heard in Serana's delicate voice, no matter how hard she tried to conceal it.

Kelria parted her lips to voice her response but found none that would suit the situation. She didn't know what she wanted. Long time ago she used to think that relationships were a curse, and now she confirmed it was indeed true. Why even start a relationship with someone when there was dread looming over the world and the feelings only served as a distraction?

Or was it the distraction she needed? What was she doing: letting her feelings distract her as aid or disturb her from her duties? But the fact the she was in love with Aela barred her thoughts and didn't let her continue the trail. It was a fact, and she couldn't get away from it.

"I…I love her, Serana." Finally Kelria looked into amber eyes and noticed the acknowledgment combined with sorrow in them. The sight cut her like a knife.

"I understand." Serana forced a weak smile and lowered her hand from Kelria's arm. "And I am glad."

It was painful. Kelria felt the pain and guilt dig deeper into her very heart, tormenting her and tossing everything inside. And it would probably be around a week until they reached Solitude and the entire time the uncomfortable presence of blame would haunt her mercilessly.

But the warmth Serana brought to her, despite the vampire's cold skin, was more intoxicating than anything else in this world. And she yearned for it. She pleaded her mind and body to resort to one decision, as they always contradicted one another, mind willing to do one thing while her body begged for the other, leaving Kelria desperate.

"But…"She stammered, leaning closer to the side of the vampire's head until the latter could feel the younger woman's warm breath on her skin. "This is so hard…"

Kelria felt her blood pump loudly in her ears, louder than the sound of the horse's tread and the wagon rolling on the bumpy ground. Serana was motionless and closed her eyes, taking in the quiet voice of the Dragonborn.

Kelria deeply inhaled the vampire's scent. She smelled like fresh night air.

Such intimate closeness started to boil Kelria's blood which sent tingles throughout her whole body. She urgently needed a distraction, lest she threw herself at the vampire right there.

She swallowed a lump in her throat and pulled back, causing Serana to let out a sigh of disappointment. Instead, she slid off the bench and found a place in front of the older woman, crossing her legs beneath her. It wasn't a pleasant ride as she swayed back and forth but at least that way she had Serana's eyes in full view.

"Can we talk about something else?"

Serana silently nodded and fixated her gaze on the Dragonborn.

"I'd like to know more about your past." Kelria cocked her head to one side as she studied the woman.

Serana chuckled weakly. "Are you going to analyze me?"

"I'm just curious."

"Why do I always do the talking? I know almost nothing about you." She smiled sadly.

"Next time, perhaps." Kelria sighed. "So, uhm… You said that your mother had sealed you in that tomb to hide the Scroll away from your father. You never told me the whole story."

"I remember her having another Scroll when she gave me the other one-"

"Another Scroll?!"

"Yes…I never told you because it didn't matter. I don't know where to find her. Before she sealed me away, she said she would go somewhere my father would never search. And I literally have no idea where it is. But maybe it's for the better. I didn't know why she would do that, I said that before, Kelria, but perhaps it had to do something with the Prophecy."

"Okay, what? What Prophecy? Why are you telling me this now, what if I didn't ask?" Kelria frowned.

"Because I still think that there should be a way to read only one Scroll or defeat my father without one. They contain parts of the Prophecy. I don't know where my mother is, and if she has or had a Scroll with her. Fulfilling the Prophecy entails covering the world in sheer darkness, forever blocking the Sun, so that the vampires could flourish. When I was first going to come back home, to my father, I couldn't see why I wouldn't let him do that. But... after I saw what he had done and still does to all these innocents..."

"Do you think your mother is still alive?" asked Kelria.

Serana simply shrugged. "Like I told you a long time ago, father may have found her and killed her. I don't know."

"Okay. We'll definitely get back to it, whether you want it or not. What relationship did you have with your parents? Because everything sounds very…odd."

Serana took a fairly long time before she could answer. "Never got on the right foot with my father, as you well know. Valerica wasn't a role model either. They both were obsessed with power, rather than parenting. They were… dominant and I couldn't even breathe freely. Best parents ever." She sighed.

"Was it their choice for you to become a vampire? How did you even…become one?"

Serana shook her head. "You really don't have to know that."

"Yes, I do."

The raven-haired woman looked into Kelria's eyes which longed for the answer. But she hesitated.

"I believe you don't know how Volkihar vampire bloodline emerged in the first place." When she saw Kelria shaking her head, she continued. "My father's ego was… through the roof. He was afraid of dying, he couldn't let death deprive him of the enormous power he had, hence why he later made a deal with Molag Bal, to be granted immortality."

"What kind of deal?"

Serana wet her lips for a moment, and Kelria's eyes followed every motion. "He had to sacrifice a lot of people… And by a lot I mean… _a lot_."

Kelria let out a broken sigh and nodded for the woman to go on.

Serana opened her mouth to say something but only let out something akin to a sob as she looked away, shaking her head. In a swift instance she felt Kelria's hands covering her own on her lap.

"You don't have to…I'm sorry."

"No…" Serana spoke again softly. "No, you have to know." She squeezed Kelria's hands but tried her best to avoid the eye contact.

"So when the sacrifice was done…There was supposed to be a…certain ritual, which would give our family immortality. A ceremony which involved us to… " She paused. "…to give ourselves to Molag Bal"

Kelria's eyes stared intensely at Serana's face and the vampire felt how the look burned her skin to the point that she had to exhale deeply to vent the heat out.

"You…you mean…"

"Yes, that's what I mean." Serana tightened the grip on Kelria's hands. "We were… used. And it was degrading. At first I watched all the others being… taken. Only few of them survived. It was… cruel. Then my mother…" She paused again, closing her eyes. "And then it was my turn. Even now I still feel how real it was. That pain, it… it haunts me. I begged to die, but I made it out. I don't know how…"

Kelria's body started to shiver, the strength with which she held onto Serana's hands gradually increased and Serana felt the whole carriage shaking.

It was when she looked into Kelria's eyes, she realized that something was wrong. Blue eyes gave out a bright yellow hue, plainly visible under the moonlight and the limbs were vibrating, causing Serana's own eyes to widen with horror.

"Kelria." Serana managed to break out of Kelria's hold and get off the bench to kneel down and cup both sides of the Dragonborn's face. "Kelria, calm down. Look at me."

"Err, ladies? What's going on 'ere? We got a smooth road 'ere, why'd it bump like that?" The driver's voice sounded muffled.

"All is good!" cried Serana and hushed her voice down, worriedly trying to bring some focus into Kelria's eyes that stared absently into nothing, and the body never ceased to tremble.

"Kelria, please, look into my eyes!" Serana begged and pleaded, seeking to catch Kelria's gaze.

In one moment, the girl closed her eyes and suddenly the wagon returned to its normal position, riding away as it had before.

"Kelria?" Serana noted the once again steady breathing and lifted Kelria's head gently up before the blue eyes stared into her own as the tremor seemed to have subsided. "Kelria, what was that?"

"I…" she stammered, shaking her head faintly. "I don't know…"

Serana exhaled in relief and pressed her forehead against the now damp one of the Dragonborn. "Don't scare me like that." she whispered.

"I felt anger…and hatred. When you said those…those things." Kelria's hands found Serana's back and she pressed herself against the older woman. "Then I felt fire inside…I…I'm so sorry for what happened to you, Serana." Her voice sounded no more than a whisper, as she seemed to contend with a dreadful discomposure that threatened to become hysterical.

The vampire forced a weak smile when she felt Kelria burying her nose into her neck, and tangled her hand into the blonde hair, soothing it with soft strokes, while her other hand found a place on the girl's back, who yielded tractably and looked soothed by the contact.

"It's okay, it was a long time ago… Calm down, Kelria. We'll talk about what happened here later."

* * *

 **A/N: please leave a review if you'd like so. :)**  
 **Also, what is your favourite canon/non-canon pairing in the TES series ? Any gender/race/etc of course. Just curious.**  
 **And also, should I make chapters larger ? If so, it might be a long wait, so I've decided to split big scenes into separate chapters so as to update more frequently.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: *Curls into a ball* Whatever you do - not the face !  
**

* * *

 **Four days later. 5th of Sun's Height.**

Another day. Another inn.

Hardly any word had slipped Kelria's lips by the time the carriage chanced upon another shabby shelter.

After what happened four days ago, Serana's chest started to ache every time Kelria averted her weary gaze or dismissed any empathic words addressed to her. The vampire remained very far from wishing to dwell on her own feelings concerning the affiliation of Kelria's heart, as that still prevailed to be the very least of their problems, and yet the poignant attempts to express her care through words, gaze and touch appeared unremitting, albeit ostensibly laying no notable imprint upon the Dragonborn's frame of mind. The gash wound, cut by seeing the Dragonborn once again restoring defense walls around her heart and soul, was masked by the veil of amiable disposition, strained as it was in the depth of her heart. It would not have hurt as much had Kelria been angry, even towards Serana herself, but seeing her so...absent, silent… - it was as agonizing as a touch of silver.

It was evident even through Kelria's posture or expression something was tormenting her inside, affliction which she had possibly been trying to subdue, but it had only resulted in Serana being even more perturbed. And helpless.

"I'm not hurting, Serana," Kelria uttered with a weary voice to yet another concern of the vampire and turned to the small window in a tiny room they had been given in the inn, the only room with two beds and one small cabinet. They had to stay in some cheap excuse of an inn, somewhere between Rorikstead and Morthal but both of them could not care less where, so long as nothing interfered with their passage on the way.

"You look worse than death," Serana spoke softly as she stood several feet away from Kelria, her eyes worriedly staring at the back of Kelria's blonde head which was dimly illuminated by the faint flames of a lantern and three candles around the room.

"Is that how you vampires compliment each other?" She murmured with impartiality, her arms crossed on her chest and the distant gaze fixated on the surroundings laid out behind the window, at the dusk descending upon the dark green fields of grass and even darker shades of the trees' silhouettes that looked gravely with compression on both women. Beside their voices and the horse's occasional neigh, plain and pure silence hovered in the air.

But Serana craved only one voice to be heard.

She would have smiled at the words, but she only felt her eyebrows slightly knitting together.

"You don't sleep because you are afraid…" she spoke blandly with concern, concluding what her thoughts had conjured.

Kelria's body tensed and head turned to the side; Serana could see Kelria's perplexed expression and the almost healed injury on the temple. So she made a move, a step towards the Dragonborn, her voice remaining tranquil and composed.

"You are afraid of having another nightmare. Is that why you are torturing yourself?" She heard no response, and continued, "Why are you so closed with me? Tell me one reason why I apparently haven't yet deserved your trust. Tell me one reason why you can't open yourself up to me, why I can't hear you out."

"It's not about trust…"

"Then tell me," Serana stepped even closer until her front almost touched Kelria's back. She debated her next move, but after an instant, her hands involuntarily touched Kelria's body, her left hand resting on the younger woman's left shoulder, the right one finding place on the right side; the touch was light due to the fear of scaring the girl away, "Please, Kelria."

She felt Kelria tensing under the touch, and she was prepared to move her hands away but decided against it, to her relief, when she heard the blonde speak.

"I'm not afraid," Kelria whispered, "I don't…I don't want to go through the same pain over and over again. I am tired. My mind is weak when I'm not awake. And when it's weak, it's like … I am entering the Oblivion."

"I will watch over you …You're shivering like a freezing cat, you can barely stand on your feet," Serana snaked her right arm further around Kelria's stomach, seeking to hold her closer in the embrace as she battled over the rectitude of her own actions.

She smiled softly when Kelria relaxed in her arms and even placed one hand upon Serana's, the warm and cold skins colliding at last, making a pleasant sensation surge mildly through the vampire's veins.

"What if…" Kelria started, "What if it happens again..."

"I will wake you up," Serana promised, squeezing Kelria's shoulder.

"No… not that," Kelria turned her head to the side enough to look into the vampire's amber eyes with a dismal expression, "Kheiira…It can…"

"You think it was the dragon?" The vampire asked softly.

Kelria nodded her head weakly,"It was."

"Your eyes," Serana bit her lip, "They were different."

"How different?"

"It was like there was… a blazing fire in them,"Serana felt the girl tense and swallow hard, so she continued softly, "You suppressed it once, and you will do it again. And again," Serana smiled faintly, aiming to make Kelria feel just a little bit better.

She thought she had, but Kelria only shook her head.

"I wish I could be strong enough."

"You are the strongest person I know," Serana whispered reassuringly, her eyes longingly staring at the side of the Dragonborn's face.

"If I am the strongest person you know, then we're doomed," Kelria muttered.

Serana rolled her eyes with a smallest chuckle, "So much for being optimistic," She paused slightly and erased the trace of her smile upon seeing no reaction from the girl,"If you want to talk-"

Kelria shook her head slowly, gazing out of the window again, "I can't explain it. It was burning me from the inside. I… I couldn't control my body. My mind was somewhere else." She made a long pause there and gently removed Serana's hands, "No, I don't want to talk about it."

Serana reluctantly broke the embrace, remorsefully forcing her arms to untangle from around Kelria, "But one day you will have to, Kelria. If not to me, then to Aela."

She stepped back and turned around towards the door, "Now go lay down. I will check on the driver and make sure he's not getting drunk downstairs."

"Serana."

"Yes?"

Kelria turned around and sent an aloof gaze with seemingly no focus in them at Serana. The quiet voice resonated from an even far more distance than the gaze.

"What would you do if Kheiira was to break out?"

A heartbeat passed.

"Nothing that you want me to do," Serana stated somberly this time.

Their eyes finally met. Serana read the hardly concealed abashment in the blue eyes and cast one last lingering look at the motionless girl by the window, leaving a heaved sigh in the air and the closed door behind her.

* * *

Pure silence settled in the room. Kelria made a slow move to the window and pulled the frame wide open, letting a wave of fresh breeze wash over her face with a caressing sensation. She closed her eyes and leaned her temple against the frame of the window, basking in the night air.

At that moment she missed the warmth around her body.

She didn't know how much time had passed. She simply stood there, hearing nothing. Absolutely nothing. As if everything around her had disappeared.

She wondered if she could fall asleep standing like horses do. Aren't their legs hurting afterwards?

But something erased the thoughts soon.

The hair on her neck stood up as the nerves on her skin started tingling.

The rustling of the grass.

A horse?

A shadow flickered in the distance just when she opened her eyes.

Too small for a horse, too big for a dog, too quick for a simple human.

The fondling kisses of the breeze started stealing her breath away and she found it hard to respire. She gritted her teeth and stared into the darkness of the trees, perusing the surroundings with her concentrated eyes. A few moments passed and she hurriedly leaped through the window over the sill, landing on the roof of the stables with a thud of her boots on the wooden surface. The horses miraculously remained undisturbed and she hopped off onto the dusty ground as quiet as possible, making sure to retain her crouching position in spite of the wound on her side making its presence felt. But no pain could stop her legs from moving forward to cross the road and set foot on the grove replete with abundant dark trees. The light coming from the inn's lanterns couldn't penetrate the high wall of vegetation, which made Kelria concentrate solely on hearing and perceiving instead.

She sat still on her knee, listening to the ambience and failing to discern anything in the darkness. As inconvenient as it was, the dark clouds shrouded the moon, leaving no source of light to serve as guidance.

Suddenly the leaves crunched underfoot. Her heart skipped a beat.

It sounded quiet and yet close, as if it was her who had made the sound.

A shadow glimpsed to her right.

She swiftly turned her head, trying to catch the silhouette with her eyes but failed again.

Only now did she realize that she had no weapon on herself and she only had her bare hands for defense. _Stupid fuck you are_ , she thought.

She advanced further into the blinding blackness of the grove, quietly making her way past the broad and thin trunks of the trees, deliberately choosing her next footsteps.

Before she could make another move, two strong arms reached out and grabbed her, firmly pulling her away, a hand immediately going to cover her mouth. She started struggling in futile attempt to break free from her captor's firm grasp and found herself unceremoniously shoved up against the nearby tree.

"Shhhh." She felt lips brushing against her ear and shuddered at the familiar husky voice. "I felt it too." Serana whispered quietly and Kelria started to relax in the vampire's close embrace.

Serana gently removed her hand from Kelria's mouth and the younger woman turned her head to meet the glowing amber eyes with her own, which let a small influx of relief into her body slowly. She wanted nothing more than to lean against the brunette's body to prolong the warmth of the embrace but the threat was still real.

"It's not human, is it? An animal?" Kelria whispered back as the two women lowered themselves and stared into the darkness around them.

She could barely notice Serana shaking her head.

"There is only your blood I'm able to smell right now." The vampire replied in a low tone.

"Another vampire?"

Kelria's question remained unanswered, yet she felt something tepid sliding into her palm and she realized it was a hilt of one of Serana's daggers. She silently accepted it and gripped it tight as the two started to slowly step further into the grove, keeping their guards up from every direction.

She didn't know for how long it had been going on like that, but the silence was becoming tormenting. She didn't have an advantage of seeing in the darkness, but she could tell even Serana with her skills wasn't able to distinguish anything around them either. She contemplated conjuring a fire spell but barred that thought just as quickly, not willing to walk as a visible target to anyone or anything that was stalking them.

"There!" She heard herself shout upon spotting the shadow between the trees.

Serana swiftly turned around and followed her gaze.

"Where?" the woman whispered with tension in the voice.

It was gone. Kelria could swear she'd seen it but …

The grass behind them whooshed.

She didn't have time to register what was happening. Some invisible force struck Serana and mercilessly tossed her across the grove and her back collided with a tree a few dozens of feet away.

Kelria choked down a cry. The force wasn't as invisible as it had first seemed; the shadow that stood between her and Serana appeared to have materialized but the true nature of the creature couldn't still be discerned in the dark murkiness. She wasn't even sure she had dealt with something like that before.

She clenched her teeth. Now it was the perfect time to incinerate it with fire. With a growl she let her legs hastily carry her to where the shadow stood, simultaneously conjuring the spell that found its form in a ball of fire over her palm. She sprang into action, running towards the enemy and sending the flame flying at the target.

As if Kelria's luck hadn't been bad enough, the spell was easily averted; but before the fire hit the tree behind creature it cast enough light at the figure. She swallowed hard and halted on her track. It looked like a dreadful spawn from Oblivion, a horrifying daedra but that was indeed something she had never stumbled upon in her life, and she never doubted she had seen more daedra than any mortal on Nirn. The head was hooded but what little was visible of the face displayed the obnoxious snarling visage with bits of flesh scraped off and hanging down. The figure's frame was enrobed in some dark shabby cloak.

Kelria was afraid it could dissipate again at any moment so she tucked away the thoughts into the back of her mind and focused on the action. Catching the sight of some movement behind the shadow, she straightened up with a deep breath and readjusted the dagger in her hand. She leaped at the creature with a slashing motion of the weapon, but it effortlessly dodged the strike by re-emerging at her side.

She spotted the claws in the dark that were coming right at her face and only had time to duck to keep her head intact before the monster hit her hard in the stomach, eliciting a loud growl from her throat and making her double over in blinding pain.

The Dragonborn glared over at the horrid opponent and worked up the strength to keep avoiding the attacks coming at her, as well as gradually imbuing the dagger with more energy each second. The enemy was too fast and there was no way she could predict its next position as it moved by fits and starts, hence why she paid for it by earning a meeting with a solid trunk of the tree behind her, the back of her head colliding with the wood hard to the point she felt warm liquid oozing down her neck.

She was almost choking on pain when she saw Serana having recovered and taking her turn on fighting the abomination. Kelria didn't know if there was any harm being done to the creature at all. The vampire apparently thought the blades weren't enough, so the vicinity was soon lit by scattered lightning bolts and ice spikes.

The magicka continued to induce her dagger with more and more energy, her hand tingling as the shock rippled through the skin. Serana was getting desperate, so Kelria roused some courage within to rise up to her feet and join the fight with renewed vitality.

No, the two of them could barely scratch the flesh of the monster - it kept dodging their attacks without so much as moving physically.

The battle was becoming fruitless and draining, if not for Serana - then definitely for her own self. Having not fully recovered from all the previous wounds she'd got, this fight was giving her a great deal more pain before she soon felt that there were hardly any healthy spots on her skin left.

But her body refused to give up.

No, something was infusing her with energy

" _Hi fen dir_!" She shouted loudly, not even recognizing her own voice laden with a pure form of rage and fury.

The vibrations within her body became palpable as the shock surged through her veins. She wasn't aware of her next move – leaping forward with a growl she felt her lungs inflating so vastly until there was nothing to do but to let the air out, and so she did: with a piercing " _MUL_!" she plunged the dagger into the monster with all the force she could muster. It shrieked when the blade emerged on the other side of its form. It shook and with a loud cry Kelria yanked her hand back, 'causing the shadow to explode and the impact sent the two bruised women flying across the grove like ragdolls.

Kelria groaned in pain when she crashed onto the ground on her side, urgently gasping for breath. She felt the metallic taste in her mouth and spit it out on the grass, not surprised if at dawn this place would be covered in red. Her breath was ragged and uneven, and the pressure in her head made her feel like she was underwater with the lack of hearing. She didn't notice Serana crouching beside her but sensed the coldness of her hand on the cheek.

"Kelria?" The concerned voice asked.

She groaned again.

"Is it …" Kelria exhaled brokenly. "Is it gone?"

The silence hit her for a few seconds.

"I'd like to think so."

Kelria sighed and closed her eyes.

The creature had apparently evaporated from this realm of existence, and it wasn't just flesh and bone, for it had simply … vanished.

"Just … just a few minutes." She didn't care what she was lying on, she was losing control of her body to exhaustion.

"You're bleeding, Kelria." Serana replied worriedly.

She lied still for a beat and then asked breathlessly. "Can you sense it?"

"Your blood? Yes, that's the problem-"

"No." She cut off. "That fucker."

Serana swallowed, "No."

Another silence struck as if Serana was carefully choosing words.

"Your eyes were…" Her voice faltered, followed by an exhale, "We have to get you inside."

Kelria had no strength to respond or get up or even open her eyes and, as expected, she simply let the vampire lift up her limp body with ease while she focused solely on staying awake for as long as possible.

* * *

Late that night, it was ensured by the vampire that no disturbance could transpire and hit the sleeping Dragonborn who had gained the long-forgotten rest at last after the terrifying fight with the unknown entity. Having helped Kelria tend to the wounds for what felt like two hours, she noted the girl's body had finally given in and been granted the alluring prize in the form of sleep that had been long overdue.

Whoever had heard the cries not far from the inn was informed that it had been a mere wolf she and Kelria had been unlucky to stumble into. She was in no mood to explain anything to anyone, especially since there was no evidence of whoever or whatever that had attacked them.

She had to allow the regeneration process to care for her own injuries – unlike Kelria, it would fortunately take her no more than a night to get back in shape. But this mortal…

The steady, quiet thrum of light rain on the window and the even rising and falling of Kelria's frame accompanied Serana throughout the lonely night. And she deemed herself blessed to have two mesmerizing things to look at: a glimpse of the distant milky moon that was trying to escape the captivity inflicted by the dark clouds which blended with the black shadows of trees; and the peaceful bed-ridden Kelria, who lay on her side with her back turned to the window, thus allowing Serana to wistfully gaze at the light-coloured but bruised, imperfect Nordic skin of the girl's shoulders that were partially concealed under the woolen blanket and her wet fair hair, now clean of blood, spread across the pillow. It was the first time the vampire's eyes could revel in more of the younger woman's skin, to drink in the harmonious form of her friend lying placidly with sleep undisrupted.

And yet something about the girl caught her attention.

Without making any sound, as befitted her predatory nature, she closed the distance between the narrow bed and herself bit by bit, descending silently on the vacant space beside Kelria. The moonlight had again vanished, candles long extinguished and yet her vision became more helpful than the last time, enhanced by virtue of her vampiric curse. Tentatively, as if uncertain of the motion, Serana's hand peeled the blanket by the slightest and covered the exposed flesh of the girl's upper back with the fingertips, causing a faint gasp to leave her own lips at the touch.

She fought the nervous swirls that braided in her stomach, trying to speculate on possible ways of how these multiple scar were birthed into the Dragonborn's still young skin. The source of the recent bruises on the back was clear, but the scars…The pale coral streaks that snaked across the shoulder blades were a reminder of the harshness Kelria's life had been submitted to. The question that gnawed Serana now was whether this young woman would ever confide in her, whether she would share the recollection of the cicatrices' origin with her, seeing that the Dragonborn never entrusted the backstory to anyone. Or so she thought. She might as well have been an exception. Kept in the dark, isolated far beyond Kelria's mind.

Even though the gentle touch of Serana's fingers was unable to wake Kelria up, she deemed it sensible not to disturb the girl any longer, growing apprehensive of how far these scars might go. One last time, she let her index finger gingerly trace the length of one of the elongated scars till it touched the sharp shoulder blade, lingering there for a few instants before reluctantly pulling back. It turned to be excruciatingly difficult to fight the desire of prolonging the touch, and such a desire slowly and surely evolved into an almost intolerable urge to bring the girl closer and relish the sound of the pulsating vein in the exposed neck. The smell of blood still lingered in the room. Each heartbeat now drew Serana closer and closer. The taste would be much more delectable than the sound, the sweetness of the exceptional liquid would pour in her throat and burn the stomach like wildfire in a blissful sensation, it would embellish her lips like fine red wine and she would tighten the hold on the Dragonborn to feel the blazing heat against her own body which would only add to the passion they both would be captives of until the unbearable thirst was sated completely, until her fangs were dripping of the crimson nectar and tongue saturated with that luscious blood…

A small sharp exhale escaped Serana's mouth when she found herself merely a few inches away from Kelria's neck. Her lips quivered in those few moments of reverie, and she forced herself to close her eyes and swiftly pull back, gently rising to her feet and guiding them to stand by the window. Kelria remained as motionless and serene, and Serana viewed it as a luck that she was still in the restful realm of sleep and unaware of what she could have fallen victim to. Silently, the vampire cursed herself for having almost given in to the temptation she had barely managed to resist, thereby depriving herself of the longing sensation of rapture she was on the verge of diving into. That was why her hands had been shaking and breath stolen away when she had tried to help Kelria to wash off the blood.

Averting her gaze to the dim obscurity beyond the window, she leaned her forehead against the cool glass tainted with raindrops on the other side, and wrapped her arms around herself in a comforting manner.

Kelria could have died there. They had faced a brutal creation of another realm and Kelria had barely made it out alive.

One thought slipped her mind that very second…

…disgust with her own self.

* * *

 **7th of Sun's Height.**

Eleven days left until the scheduled summit in Morthal and they were still experiencing deficiency in depleted ranks, which aggravated the Huntress's concerns to no end.

The poor excuse of the newly recruited army was marching, or more like waddling, past the Proudspire Manor. Aela, standing on the stairs of the small entrance yard glared at them in resentment, her arms crossed firmly on her chest as she observed dozens of the recruits advancing to their gathering in the castle courtyard.

Rookies who don't even know which side of a sword to hold, she thought. What would become of them if they spotted a bloodsucker or if they saw a roaring, reeking Stormcloak charging headlong at them? No doubt, they would either stand stiff, wetting themselves in fear, or cowardly retreat, whining like a bitch in heat. Aela huffed aloud in response to her mental discussion with her own self, and rolled her eyes in disgust, turning to get back into the house so that she wouldn't continue to watch these disabled on the streets and curse the Divines for such a ghastly fate.

"Let me guess, poor sight?" A faint feminine voice was heard in the kitchen as soon as Aela walked in.

The Huntress only shrugged it off and went to the table to grab an ample red apple, uttering words that bore exasperation in each syllable.

"Usually I would say it could have been worse, but in this case this is hopeless."

"To be honest, you're never satisfied."

"Oh really?" Aela glared at the brunette, who was sitting on the chair almost doubled in half with one arm encircling her own waist. She knew it was still early for Lydia to start walking this early morning, but she provided the help she could offer to the woman anyway, "We're fucked. We will win only if the Stormcloaks happen to die from laughter just by looking at those dogfaces."

Lydia chuckled weakly and shook her head, "How many of them?"

Aela bit down on the apple angrily, as if the fruit was the reason of all the troubles in the world, and started pacing around the room slowly, "Around two hundred."

"And you call this bad?"

"Even if it was twice the number, what use of them would be?" Aela took another enormous bite with a scornful expression.

"They have you. And, well, me," Lydia shrugged and straightened up a bit.

"Out of question. You're not taking part in the battle," The redhead intently walked up to one window, opened it and with a dull motion of her hand threw out the rest of the apple with no exertion on precision, and caring not who it might or might not have hit.

"Yes, I am. And I don't need your permission, Aela," the Housecarl replied with a somber tone in her voice.

"Let me put this straight," The Huntress uttered with a hint of a low growl, standing by the table, leaning on it with her palms, and the whole picture seemed like she was towering over the brunette, making the latter look dwarfed in comparison to the flame-haired figure, "If something else happens to you, Kelria will skin both of us alive. And no, she won't spare you. Now be a good Housecarl and stay out of trouble."

Aela pushed herself off the table, letting Lydia incinerate her with contempt written across the angry eyes.

"I follow _her_ orders, not yours!"

"The order was not to get in fucking danger!" Aela barked in response.

Lydia raised her voice and the audible twitching of the tone indicated the difficulty in yelling, let alone speaking.

"She wanted me to take care of you, for Talos' sake!"

Aela stared at her with a frozen expression of frustration. The only motion she conveyed was a sharp exhale escaping her mouth. It was a stare-off competition now, one pair of eyes glued to another for who knows how long. Aela couldn't comprehend if that was a joke or truth, but it only took her several moments to grasp the thread of thought, as Kelria's intentions now became more and more clear.

She was the first to break the silence.

"And… that's why she sent you with me?" Aela's body started to relax to some degree.

Lydia nodded with a more calmed visage, her voice turned tender and reassuring.

"And I promised her I would. Although," she paused for a moment, "it looks like you and I have switched the roles."

"She couldn't have expected something like this would happen," Aela heaved a sigh and turned around, running her hand through her red mane, "And this is my fault."

"Aela-"

"I have some business to attend to," She spoke hastily, cutting off Lydia's words and turning to take her leave. She wouldn't bear the woman's attempts in convincing her otherwise, "You need me to fetch you something?"

Lydia shrugged her shoulders weakly, and Aela noticed that she was having hard times to let go of that topic. The mere sight of it made the wolf inside stir in discomfort. But she shook it off and cleared her throat.

"Don't leave the house."

* * *

The inside of the Winking Skeever was reeking of mead to the point it made Aela's eyes water up the moment she stepped in. It was abundantly packed with what seemed like separate groups occupying several tables across the tavern and either playing cards or telling appropriate only for this place jokes; lone travellers and adventurers, who deemed it sensible to stay the night and have a bottle of drink; drunkards with various volumes of booze invading their veins, and even couples fondling each other in the corners. Aela rolled her eyes. As if there was no other place to show affection other than in public.

She caught herself thinking back to when she and Vilkas shamelessly displayed their 'friendship' for everyone to see. Thank the Nine Divines, such a prelude had been interrupted and they never made it to anything serious. At least in public. She clicked her tongue and huffed, mentally battering herself with a heavy stick to bring her attention back to reality.

Making the way to the bar appeared to be not so easy a task. Weaving the path and rubbing herself against the other patrons whose clothes stank with alcohol and were even moist - hopefully only from that alcohol - made her work out a note in her mind to have a proper bath after leaving this house.

After successfully making it to the counter without breaking anyone's nose on purpose no matter how strong the desire was to, she quietly uttered only two words to the bartender before receiving a nod in the direction she needed. What a lucky day, would be even luckier if everything went as planned.

Aela looked to one of the tavern's corners, analyzing it with a squint of her eyes and, upon ordering a mug of ale, grabbed the drink and made her way there, confidently dodging the patrons but, miserably failing to resist the urge, she stepped on one of the annoying drunkard's foot with force and made him emit a loud bawl which was consumed by the roaring sound of the tavern's ambience. She smirked to herself, merging with the crowd and proceeding to her destination without so much as care.

"Looking lonely," The Huntress stated loud enough to be heard.

The middle-aged man with gray-ish hair looked up at her with a distrustful look. Just by looking into his eyes, Aela could feel some harshness about him. A slender neck, slanted shoulders and stocky torso, short and bleached hair, thin eyebrows and round eyes and, at last, worn and dirty leather clothes completed the picture of the lone man who gazed up at Aela without uttering even a word.

She flopped into the free chair opposite to him, placing her mug on the wooden table with a thud, spilling a minor part of the ale out, "Hope you don't mind."

"And who be you, lady?" The man's voice sounded very raucous, but Aela couldn't catch if that was the age causing his tone to be so low or the influence of the two goblets of mead that stood on the table in front of him.

The Huntress leaned forward with her elbows lying on the table as her eyes looked him up and down in a slightly curious manner, showing the purposeful interest, along with the resonant voice that kept to the slow pace. "Does it really matter? I want to keep you company, why reject the woman's offer?"

"Is that so?" The man grabbed his goblet and not letting his curious gaze glide off Aela, he took a large swig before clearing his throat, "Don't like knowing nothing, you know."

She chuckled lightly and shrugged her shoulder. "Oh, I know. Amira's my name. Your turn, handsome," Her smile went tense but portrayed nothing other than curiosity.

"Hah. Right. Marcus. So what, should we drink to the acquaintance?" Marcus raised his drink.

"Naturally," Aela smirked and took her mug, gestured it towards the man and took a sip of the ale as her eyes never left their target in front of her; the partner of the conversation did just the same and she leaned forward again. "I think I've seen you somewhere. You remind me of one Marcus Accon. Heard a lot about him."

"Oh really?" Marcus raised his eyebrow as he leaned back, reclining against the wall the bench was adjacent to. "And what exactly have you heard about him?"

"That he was an elite guard of General Tullius, his entourage. People say Accon was held in high esteem and he made a lot of good deeds for the Empire." Aela's lips spread wide as she tilted her head. "So?"

"Don't know where you've heard all of that. Guess I'm flattered, huh?"

"Guess you are." Aela took another sip of the ale and chuckled lowly once more. "Come on, why have you retired?"

"A lot of questions for someone you've just met, Amira." Marcus narrowed his eyes as he continued consuming the drink, seemingly not willing to stop.

"Sate the woman's curiosity. Shouldn't be hard, Marcus." Aela cooed with an almost naturally pleasant tone, despite it always being rough.

"Well, if such a beautiful lady insists…" He chuckled. "We had some disagreements with Tullius. I didn't like his decisions, he didn't like mine. Was better off that way. I'm not that old enough to retire and yet I did, but Oblivion be damned, I don't want to go back to the Imperial City and get involved in affairs all the time. It was a good riddance."

"So you suggest there are no political affairs here?"

Marcus cocked his head to one side as he studied the woman in front of him, and Aela could clearly notice a tiny seed of suspicion growing in his eyes.

"And why are you interested in that?"

"I don't like repeating myself, Marcus."

He huffed, "Right. I'll never understand a woman's mind. No need for me to care about whatever is going on regarding Skyrim's politics, let alone in Cyrodiil. I'm past that phase of my life. I'm a former soldier, and I'd like to spend the rest of my life without being engaged in something I will regret later."

Aela let out a loud sigh and took another larger sip of her ale, followed by lowered tone of her voice as she looked side-ways to the other patrons, "For that, you'd better leave Nirn for good," she remarked, "You must still have close ties to the General. Or the Jarl?"

His bewildered gaze lingered on her eyes and only a few heartbeats later he seemed to have found the words, "What are you implying?" he asked quickly in a more hushed tone as the pupils of his eyes turned a tad larger like the ones of an animal sensing danger and one could barely see Aela shifting a little on the chair.

"Not implying. Asking."

"You're not _just_ a random woman who wanted some company," Marcus shook his head slowly as his round eyes conveyed the achieved comprehension,"What exactly do you need from me?"

The movement was barely visible.

"Take a look down."

Marcus, with an utter caution, complied and lowered his gaze slowly only to see a menacing blade of the knife, that Aela held in her hand, touching his left leg with the sharp side applying a small pressure into his skin under the fabric of his worn trousers.

The whole scene looked like she had affectionately put her hand on his knee and not much detail under the table was visible to the other people who might have been able to cast a glance to them both; and it was hardly even possible as no one would care to take interest in two strangers sitting in a corner and talking.

Marcus slowly looked up from his leg to see Aela staring at him with her gray-blue eyes with intent, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Aela started slowly, and the low, almost growling manner of her speech clearly indicated the threat that should be paid thorough mind to, "that if you don't tell me the truth, you will feel a lot of pain in places you'll wish you'd never had." She pressed the tip of her knife further up Marcus' leg until it slid up to his hipbone, menacingly lingering there with a built-up pressure.

The man let out a small, quiet, suppressed groan as he intensely stared daggers at Aela, clenching his teeth as he forced words out of himself, "Why are you even-"

"Talk," she pressed in firmly and urged, "I don't have all day."

"Fine," he narrowed his eyes at her and hiccupped randomly. The knife didn't even move an inch away from that position as if also waiting for his answer, "Yes, I work for Tullius, I provide him with information about what happens here and there. Everything is informal; I am still a retired elite guard if you were wondering."

"Who or what do you spy on?"

"Spy? Huh. That's a strong word. I listen, I don't spy," Marcus paused as he heaved a sigh, and upon noticing that Aela's gaze still scrutinized him and the knife was still pressed against him, he continued, "That old fool Firebeard is up to no good. After Tullius ordered me to find out what exact intentions the Steward had in mind, not a week had passed when I already knew that man was not what we thought he was."

The Huntress nodded, "Elaborate."

Accon inhaled and exhaled slowly, "From what I could gather, he has a secret agreement with the Captain Aldis, the one who is in charge of the recruitment. He's interested in getting a squad of elite legionnaires for his own intent. Before you ask, this is not registered in any documents. He hasn't informed the Jarl or the General himself about that at this point." Marcus eyed the tavern carefully, as Aela presumed, to ensure nobody was eavesdropping.

She reduced the pressure on the blade significantly but didn't put it away just yet, "I sense it was the Captain who informed you about Falk?"

"It was. I can trust him. He couldn't address the issue in front of Tullius, hence why he came to me first."

"And how do I know everything you're saying is true?"

"Speak to the General. He won't be pleased to hear some stranger knowing about this all, however. But whatever you do, _don't_ let Elisif or the Steward learn about any of this."

The light twitch in the Huntress' eyes was followed by her clenching and unclenching the jaw muscles,"Falk is overly concerned about Vlaren Fulcer. Know anything about him?"

"That errand boy?" Marcus paused, knitting his eyebrows. "The General's courier."

"Falk told me he might have left for Windhelm. Why?" Aela narrowed her eyes that were curiously watching every change on Accon's features.

Marcus kept silent for a while, looking right into Aela's eyes before a hoarse chuckle escaped his throat, "Does the old man really think Tullius cooperates with Ulfric? Goodness gracious." He shook his head, letting out a small laugh. "He wants you to be suspicious about the General, gives you the reasons to doubt him, lies to you about his intentions. Hope you won't be that stupid, woman." He sighed again. "There are a few Imperial spies 'round Ulfric. Vlaren is a trustworthy messenger, leave him alone. Tullius uses him to keep the covert connection between Solitude and his men in Windhelm - that's what Falk finds unnerving."

The redhead eyed him thoroughly, and finally removed the knife as undetectably as it had appeared.

"I'll keep playing along. Falk blindly trusts me. You and I are not done yet. If what you say is true, we'll break that ice. If not, you can start searching for a place to dig your grave."

"Well, aren't you a sweet creature, Amira," Marcus gave her a toothy grin.

"Name's Aela, by the way. Give Tullius my regards." She stood up with a smirk, enjoying the dumbfounded expression on the man's face. She turned to leave and threw a mischievous smile at him, "That drink of mine was on you. Thank you for treating the lady to ale."

"Surely there won't be next time?" She heard him call out but left the tavern with determination in the gait.

* * *

Aela felt some peculiarity when she entered the house, something she couldn't mentally grasp and hold on to. Something had changed the past few hours and it was impossible to perceive what exactly it was. Everything looked normal as it should be, candles and lanterns lit around the rooms, a floral odor danced around the whole house – Lydia had made sure of that.

She spotted the woman in question who was sitting on the chair in the living room and drinking something from a mug. Lydia's free hand was almost nervously drumming upon the smooth surface of the wooden table as her body was far from being in a relaxed state which didn't go past the Huntress unnoticed.

"Are you sitting on a hedgehog?" Aela narrowed her eyes when Lydia turned to her with a strangely tensed smile with a poorly concealed excitement, "And enjoying it?" the redhead pressed, "Divines, get rid of this woman."

Lydia chuckled as Aela neared her and took the mug from her hands to inspect the liquid and sniff it, "Give it back, it's herbal tea."

Aela eagerly complied and placed the mug back on the table with her nose crinkling in disgust, "You keep bouncing on your chair like that and you'll make a hole in the floor," Aela stated irately.

"And I suppose you've spent your time swimming in the pool of ale with your clothes on again, so go wash yourself or people will soon mistake this house for a tavern."

Aela gave the smiling woman a sarcastic 'ha-ha-so-hilarious' look and walked off to the other room to retrieve some clean clothes. After a few minutes of rummaging through the trunks, she came forth in the living room again and made her way past Lydia with a murderous gaze.

"Could have prepared a bath to be of some use," the redhead snarled bitterly, causing Lydia to snort into the mug.

Aela rolled her eyes and descended the stairs into the small basement that served as a bath room. Not just anyone could afford to have a bath room in their houses, usually people used basins which felt a little confined. Yet this manor was exceptional and baths like this gave an immense amount of pleasure.

Right on the stairs she curiously noted the door was slightly open and palpable warmth emanated through the small slit. There was no way Lydia could have done this. She knew her way too well. She scowled, but advanced farther, cautiously, like a wolf stalking its prey, until she reached the door and pulled it slowly by the handle, stepping into the room with an analyzing, focused gaze.

This was what had struck her as peculiar when she had first entered the house.

She wasn't alone.

Her eyes fell upon one single figure in the heated water of the bath in the center of the room.

"Fuck me."

Aela breathed out and the clean clothes slid out from under her arm and onto the stone floor.

* * *

 **A/N: I like alpacas.**

 **A huge thank you to maritrevisans. You know what for. :3**

 **evilregalslola: Sorry to disappoint you, I never intended for Lydia to end up with Aela. The story is already gay enough. *Evil cackle* Glad you like it so far !**

 **Fluffybutt0ns: You like cursing, you'll get some cursing. *Smacks* Go write already.**

 **Thanks to everyone who is still here ! Your reviews and follows are what keeps the story going ! Like ... a snail... a crippled snail ...**


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